The Secret Life of Adepts Ep 1: Babysitter Mia
by Lord Cynic
Summary: Inspired by Dragon Empress's fanfics, I've concocted my own series of Golden Sun fics. In this first episode, Mia has been asked to babysit Isaac after he was caught sleepcasting... IsaacMia.
1. I like big rocks and I cannot lie

**Lord Cynic:** "I am the B+ in you're a-grade report card, I am the chilli in your taco, I am -"

**Voice:** "A complete loser."

**Cynic:** "! Who said that?"

_A group of 6-7 people appear from the darkness... _

**Cynic:** "... oh. You people again."

Tada! The Mini-Golden Sun gang: Mini Isaac, Mini Garet, Mini Jenna, Mini Mia, Mini Ivan and Mini Sheba.

**Mini Mia: **"We're back!"

**Cynic:** "So I figure. What're you up to this time?"

**Mini Jenna:** "Trying to weigh the mass of Garet's brain on some scales." _(Grows a wicked grin.)_

**Mini Garet:** "It aint that small!"

**Scales:** "You weigh 0.06 kilograms."

**Mini Isaac:** "Uh... is that normal?"

**Mini Jenna:** "... I dunno."

**Cynic:** "... I need a drink."

**

* * *

**

_Mini Ivan floats down from above holding a sign:_ **"Lord Cynic doesn't own Golden Sun, its characters, or its locations. Praise the Lord! Oh, and it has no affiliation to "The Secret Life Of Us", Lord Cynic was too lazy to get an original name. No, he doesn't watch the show either." **

**Cynic:** "Hmmph."

**

* * *

**

_**"The Secret Life of Adepts: Babysitter Mia"**_

_**Chapter 1 - I like big rocks and I cannot lie...**_

"Now, let's be quiet guys," Garet whispered. Jenna, Mia, Ivan and Sheba nodded silently and followed Garet through Isaac's house. Dora was doing some morning shopping, so as long as everyone was quiet the operation would be a complete success.

They tiptoed upstairs to the door of Isaac's bedroom, crept up to it and listened intently to Isaac's sleep talking.

"No, no, it can't be... no you're not... I don't believe you."

Silence, then...

"You're not my father!"

"Huh?" Garet was mystified, and the others just shrugged.

"I won't believe you! My father's dead! You killed him!"

More silence, then...

"**YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!**"

Suddenly, Isaac burst out of the bedroom, dressed in Djinn pyjamas and wielding his sword. The others scurried out of the way as Isaac thrust the sword in mid-air and seemingly parried with an invisible opponent.

"Grand Gaia!" he shouted, but in his sub-conscious state the boulders hovered idly in midair and didn't move. "My father died in the storm you created! How dare you claim to be my father when he's dead! He's dead - because of you... AND YOU WILL PAY!"

However, he (unfortunately) chose that moment to wake up... well, maybe not. The boulders, however, were still hovering so when he popped his eyes open, they collapsed on top of him.

"Isaac!" Everyone hurried to rescue Isaac from his predicament, and, after Isaac regained his sanity (he kept beeping like a caffeinated R2-D2), he looked around at the mess.

"Mum's gonna kill me..." He shook his head despairingly.

"She sure will."

Isaac spun around to find Garet and Co. will watching him, some with hands covering their mouths. Finally, they burst out in uncontrollable laughter, rolling on the floor - except for Mia, the sympathetic one.

Isaac, at least crimson with embarrassment, glared around at his fellow Adepts - except, suspiciously, at Mia, because he turned completely ruby red when he looked at her. Forgetting the debris of rocks, he ran back into his room and slammed the door.

"I... I guess we... we were a little rude..." Ivan breathed, as he regained his breath. Jenna however had only a little giggle and was looking thoughtful.

'Mia seemed to be the only one he doesn't get mad,' she thought, but Ivan caught that thought and sniggered.

"What's so funny?" Jenna demanded. Sheba decided to feed Ivan to the fishes.

"He read your mind. I caught him at it."

"You WHAT!" Jenna shrieked, nearly bringing down the house, glaring at Ivan. He laughed nervously and started downstairs.

"Ivan!" Jenna screamed, and Ivan started pelted downstairs, an infuriated Jenna in pursuit (reminiscent of Leena chasing Bit in Zoids).

**

* * *

**

"Isaac, I'm home!" Dora called from downstairs, bags of groceries bulging in her arms. She only just got out of the way as a screaming Ivan streaked out of the house with a fuming Jenna behind him.

"Isaac?" Dora came upstairs to find a confused Garet, a smug Sheba and a (still) sympathetic Mia outside Isaac's bedroom. The rocks remained, and Dora took one look at them, then the Adepts and sighed heavily.

"Let me guess, sleep-casting?" she asked. The others nodded. "That's the fourth time this week. I think it's time I got a babysitter."

Garet sweatdropped lightly as Sheba looked pointedly at Mia, who glanced back at her, innocent as a lamb. Dora watched the girls' expressions and, unlike Mia, got the point.

"Mia!" she cried suddenly, causing everyone to jump a foot in the air. "How about it?"

"H-Huh? What do you mean?" Mia asked timidly. Garet created the first miracle of the day by catching on and grinning like an idea. Sheba gave him an odd expression and he quickly dropped the grin.

"How about babysitting Isaac?" Dora repeated. Mia's face became shocked and she looked around at her fellow Adepts. Sheba gave her a look of twisted satisfaction while Garet shrugged and resumed his blank expression. Mia turned back to Dora, red as a rose and as stuck as one in a thorn bush.

"B-Babysit... Isaac?"

Dora nodded.

"Um... sure, I guess that's fine," Mia said quietly.

Dora clapped her hands and grew an excited smile.

"Excellent! Listen, I've got to pop back to the market, I forgot the milk. Don't suppose you could watch him for me? Great!" And with that Dora departed, and almost on cue Jenna strolled up the stairs, dragging an unconscious Ivan. She looked from the smirking faces of Sheba, to the thoroughly embarrassed Mia, to finally Garet's trademark blank face.

"So, what'd I miss?" Jenna asked. "Is Isaac out yet?"

"Nope," Sheba said matter-of-factly, then looking at Ivan added, "I see Ivan's out though, heh."

Garet opened his mouth to say something, then glanced at Ivan and shut it again.

"Yes?" Jenna peered at Garet, who glanced nervously at Ivan, then a still smirking Sheba. Putting two and two together, he shook his head hurriedly. Jenna shrugged and turned her head to Mia for the first time. Mia had her head down in thought and seemed surprised when Jenna addressed her.

"Wazup, Mia?"

"Wha? Oh, n-nothing..."

Sheba was about to break the news when the nervous head of Isaac poked out of his bedroom. Watching everyone like a paranoid guard dog, the blond hair on his head stood, if possible, higher on end.

After an intense moment of staring from Isaac between everyone, he eventually withdrew back into the safety of his bedroom.

Everyone stared at the closed door, then at each other.

"Can someone please tell me what's -"

"Ow... where am I?"

Ivan appeared to have recovered at last, and like Jenna he had no idea of what was going on.

"What happened? You're all looking like Saturos is ruling the world." Then he noticed the bedroom door - still closed. "Oh..."

"Yeah," Garet said, "He came out just before you woke up, but he took one look at us and locked himself back in." He added, "Wuss!" when no one was looking.

"So, can we get an update or do I have to watch the news report on TV?" Jenna said impatiently.

"Would you like to tell 'em, Mia?" Garet asked, challenging Sheba. Mia nodded and took a deep breath.

"Dora's asked me to baby-sit Isaac."

Even though half the group already knew this, that simple sentence had enough power to have everyone on their backs, howling with laughter. This provoked a furious set of boulders besides the ones lying on the floor, and everyone stopped.

"He probably reckons we're laughing at his PJ's," Garet said. "Y'reckon he knows?"

Jenna shook her head. "Someone will have to tell him."

All eyes were on Mia, who looked at them all nervously as a shade of magenta rose into her cheeks.

"Who, me? You have to be joking," she said nervously. Everyone nodded sadistically, wicked grins covering their smug faces, and Mia knew she was, cough, the weakest link.

"Don't worry," Jenna assured her. "If Isaac blasts you back out the door, we'll have the rocks removed by that time..." She thought for a moment. "Let's get to work!" She glared. "Or else."

A temperamental Jenna wasn't the type to anger, who everyone hurried and started using Psynergy to clear the rocks away.

That left Mia to gulp nervously, clutch the door and ease it open.

"Isaac?"

Nothing. Then...

"You may enter."

Mia glanced nervously at the gang, who were fussing over the scattered debris. Taking one last breath, she entered the darkness of Isaac's room.

**

* * *

**

**Lord Cynic:** "I need to get outta here..."

**Mia Ivan:** "Oy, Cynic! C'mere!"

**Lord Cynic:** (_irritably_) "What?"

**Minis:** "Nothing."

**Lord Cynic:** "ARGH!"


	2. Beware the wrath of the Venus Adept!

_Lord Cynic and the Mini-Golden Sun crew are having some fun... well, the Mini's anyway._

**Mini Jenna:** "Duck... duck... duck... duck... goose!" (_Taps Mini Garet hard on the head_)

**Mini Garet:** "Oww! Hey!" (_Chases Mini Jenna around the circle but fails to catch her before she drops down in his spot_) "Blast!"

**Mini Jenna:** "Heh heh, sucker."

**Mini Garet: **"Grr... duck... duck... goose!" (_Punches Isaac on the arm)_

**Mini Isaac:** "OWW! Hee-yah!" (_Charges into Mini Garet and sends him flying)_

**Mini Garet: **"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."

_DING_

**Lord Cynic:** "... that's the most entertaining thing that's happened all day."

**

* * *

**

**Mini Ivan:** "Lord Cynic doesn't own Golden Sun. Period. Nyah, nyah!"

**Lord Cynic: **"... Bah."

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 2 - Beware the wrath of the Earth Adept!**_

Mia entered the eerie darkness in which the only lights were Isaac's bright, illuminating eyes. They peered out from the far left of Isaac's room, so Mia presumed he was sitting on his bed. She slowly walked through Isaac's bedroom until his voice said, "Stop!" and she froze on the spot.

"Explain your purpose for entering my domain!" his voice commanded.

"Erm..." Mia's voice became stuck in her throat for a moment. "Your mother thinks it's a good idea if you got a babysitter."

"While I'm awake?"

"No, no. Only while you're asleep. You seem to have a case of sleep-casting."

Silence.

"And who did my mother assign this babysitter job to?"

A longer silence.

"She chose me as the babysitter."

Isaac took a long time for this to sink in.

"Thank you. You may leave."

Mia nodded and silently walked backwards out of the room, leaving Isaac to dwell.

"So, how'd it go?" Jenna asked as Mia rejoined them.

"He didn't seem that angry," Mia said, looking down at the ground.

"I wonder why," Sheba said pointedly. However, Mia still didn't get the point so Sheba dropped her smug expression.

"Garet," Mia said, turning to him, "You're his best friend. Maybe you'd better talk to him later about it."

Garet looked around at the others, who were all eyeing him. He shook his head quickly.

"No, no. You're not dragging me into this."

"Why not?" Ivan said, "It was your idea to spy on him last night."

"Yeah, but..." Garet thought quickly for a way to rescue him. Not finding any, he hung his head in defeat.

"Good Garet," Jenna said, patting him teasingly on the head. Everyone sniggered while Garet silently fumed.

This didn't last long though, because the door of Isaac's bedroom was twitching.

"Uh oh," Jenna said nervously.

"Everyone hide!" Ivan whispered, and everyone hurried to find suitable hiding spots.

Ivan had just crawled into a kitchen cupboard when Isaac slid out of his bedroom. His eyes were red, either with anger or because he was trying to readjust to the light, Jenna couldn't tell from her position behind a houseplant.

Everyone watched from their hiding spots as Isaac trudged down the stairs and out of the house. When the front door closed silently, everyone crawled out of hiding and met at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you sure he left?" Ivan asked Garet, who had hid in a broom closet.

"Positive. I heard him close the door."

"Shouldn't we have someone take a look?" Jenna asked.

"Why? Let's just go," Garet said, and everyone followed him to the front door. However, behind the door waiting for them was...

"Isaac!"

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skins when they saw Isaac standing like an English guard at the top of the outside stairs. He was looking at them with a mix of contained fury and pure bad$$eyness - think Kai of Beyblades.

"Um... hello, Isaac," Jenna said, hoping it sounded innocent. Isaac wasn't fooled and fixed her with an icy glare.

"What's wrong?" Mia asked (after being repeatedly nudged by Sheba). This broke Isaac's defences momentarily, and he dropped his glares of daggers, then sighed heavily.

"A... babysitter?" Isaac's voice was filled with fear as his mind became shrouded in misery linked to his younger days...

**

* * *

**

_"Isaac, dear?"_

_Dora peeked over her shoulder to find Isaac fiddling with pieces of a Psynergy stone. _

_"Please be careful with that," she said, and Isaac grinned. _

_"Si-nee-gee stone!" Isaac's shouted happily, clapping his hands. _

_"Yes dear, those are Psynergy stones," Dora said, smiling at him. She looked at her watch and shouted, "C'mon, Kyle!" _

_"Yes, love." Kyle walked down into the lounge room wearing an evening suit. "This makes me look like a penguin. Are you sure this is a good idea?" _

_"Of course, Kyle," Dora said in an assuring way. They kissed quickly, causing Isaac to make a yucky face. Dora laughed on the look on Isaac's face, then said goodbye and went to the front door. _

_"Don't give the babysitter any trouble now, young Isaac," Kyle said. Isaac nodded quickly, and Dora and Kyle left. _

_However, no sooner had they departed did a knock came at the door. Isaac got up to answer the door and found a young girl, probably 17-18. Isaac didn't recognise her, so when he first saw her he became confused. _

_"Who you?" he squeaked. _

_"Hi, Isaac. My name's Lita," the babysitter said, kneeling down to say hello. _

_"I like Si-nee-gee stones!" Isaac said, holding his arms out wide. It was the babysitter's turn to be slightly confused as she stood up and looked at his creation. _

_"Si-nee-gee?... oh! Psynergy?" _

_Isaac nodded. _

_"Okay..." _

_Suddenly, Lita's eyes turned red. A bright aura surrounded her, and before he knew it, Isaac was floating in mid-air. _

_"Like this?" she said, but it wasn't a sweet voice, that came out of her mouth. Instead, it was harsh and artificial. _

_"What... going on?" Isaac said, alarmed. _

_"I'm in charge now. You'll listen to me or I'll place you on the roof. Capishe?" _

_"Yes! Yes! Lemme go!" Isaac cried. _

_Lita nodded and set him down on the table. Isaac shivered uncontrollably. _

_"Now," Lita said, "Let's get some food into you. And I mean, into you." _

_Isaac's eyes became wider than saucepans..._

**

* * *

**

"Isaac? Yoo-hoo, Venus boy!"

Isaac blinked and looked around. Garet was standing in front of him, clicking his fingers. Everyone else was huddled up against the front door, looking at Isaac with the same fear he had shown on his face. Isaac snapped out of it and resumed his Kai face.

"So, a babysitter, eh?" he said, feigning astonishment. He looked around at them all (Garet had retreated back to give him room). "Do you all think I'm a baby?" They shook their heads. "Do you all think I'm incapable of looking after myself?" Another shake. Isaac raised his voice. "Do you all think I'm psycho!"

"Isaac, stop it!"

Mia had stepped out to face him. The others stared, expecting the worst.

"Why are you lashing out on us?" Mia asked, voice full of alarm. "We didn't mean for this to happen. If you want to blame someone..." She gave a small smile. "... blame Sheba."

Sheba's face became that of a zombie as she looked at Mia as if a spider had dropped on her head. Everyone but Mia turned to stare at her, and it was obvious she didn't know how to handle this.

"Why are you all looking at me? Even if I was the one who the suggest Mia was the babysitter, I never said Isaac needed one..." She regained her smugness. "If anything, whoever ends up married to Jenna needs a bodyguard."

Now all eyes were on Jenna, and she glared at them all back. Garet's face became slightly red, but no one seemed to notice this.

"Anyway," Isaac said angrily, "There is no way I'm having a babysitter!"

"Oh, come on," Sheba said, and Mia knew what she was going to say, "Not even Mia?"

A vein in Isaac's temple throbbed painfully, but he didn't seem to notice this. He clenched and unclenched his fists, and everyone thought he was going to go DBZ and transform into a Super Adept Isaac or something.

His anger outburst didn't arrive, however. On the contrary, his face became cheerful for the first time today.

"What's all the fuss, guys?" he said, a wide grin on his face. Everyone sweatdropped. "Babysitter, schmaybesitter. It concerns not a Jedi like myself."

If younger Isaac's eyes were like saucers, everyone else's eyes were like satellite dishes, Mia's included.

"Isaac, what -" she began, but Isaac was already heading off into town.

"... I think he lost it," Ivan said, and everyone murmured some word of agreement.

**

* * *

**

**Lord Cynic:** "He's... he's coming down! Trampoline!"

**Mini Sheba:** "We haven't got one."

**Cynic:** "... oh well."

**Mini Garet:** "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

_THUD_


	3. Night One

**Lord Cynic:** "... what are you doing?"

_The Mini's were on a treasure hunt. _

**Mini Garet:** "What he said."

**Mini Jenna:** "3 steps east... 4 steps north... ah! 10 steps east again, and we're there!"

**Lord Cynic:** "... wait a minute." (_Takes the map_) "That's directions to the toilet!"

Mini's: OO;;;

**

* * *

**

**Mini Ivan:** "Lord Cynic has no affiliation with Golden Sun or its creators. If he did... I wouldn't be so short."

**Lord Cynic:** "Darn straight!"

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 3 - Night One**_

Mia had resigned herself to a long night of Isaac-watching slash Isaac-sitting, and was rocking on a chair outside his bedroom, sipping a cup of tea. Dora had gone out for a late night, so Mia was in no danger of waking up Isaac's mother.

Now and then, she listened intently for signs of Isaac's sleep talking, but he was silent in his sleep. Also, she had to occasionally douse herself to keep herself awake.

Eventually she toppled backwards off her chair, and although she didn't physically damage herself, she wondered if she woke Isaac up. All was silent though, so she breathed a sigh of relief and resumed her idle rocking.

**

* * *

**

A strange thumping, which was coming from the stairs, attracted Mia's attention, and she crept over to see who, or what it was. Mia was surprised to see Jenna climbing the Mt. Everest of stairs, dragging a dozing Garet.

"Jenna, what are you?... Why is he... H-Huh?" Mia was bewildered.

"Oh, don't mind us," Jenna said casually. "I slipped out of the house while Felix was watching The Bold and the Beautiful -" Jenna giggled to herself, "- And Garet's family was more than happy to let him visit Isaac. They said it saved them from his thunder snoring for a night."

"Then why is he asleep?" Mia asked, pointing to the sleeping Mars Adept. Jenna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"He fell asleep on the way. I have to drag him most of the way here."

Mia was about to comment on this when bickering could be heard coming from the bottom of the stairs. She and Jenna peeked at the foot of the stairs to find the young Jupiter Adepts arguing over something.

"Ssh!" Jenna called from upstairs, and Ivan and Sheba stopped their argument. "Get up here and shut up."

Ivan raised an eyebrow, but he and Sheba obliged and joined the other Adepts outside Isaac's door. Garet was still sound asleep, and a wide smirk grew on Sheba's face.

"You mind if I wake him up?" she asked. Jenna looked down at Garet, then shrugged.

"Go ahead."

"Excellent," Sheba said in a Mr. Burns manner, and everyone got a little scared. She took in a deep breath and prepared to blast Garet with a really, really, really, really... really, really, really loud shout.

However, Jenna realised what Sheba was up to so before she could say anything, Jenna whispered, "Flare."

A small flame lit up and zoomed straight for Garet.

"YOOWWW!" Garet shot straight into the air and shocked Sheba, who jumped back and landed on Ivan's foot.

"Argh!" Ivan hopped painfully on the spot, holding his squashed foot.

"Sssh!" Jenna and Mia put fingers on lips furiously, and eventually everyone became quiet.

"Did we wake him?" Mia asked nervously, but she got her answer when Isaac burst through the door, riding his bike.

"So, Bit Cloud, we meet again!"

"Uh..." Words of intelligence from Garet.

"You think you can defeat me?... oh yeah? We'll see who gets the last laugh! My Saber Tiger will destroy your Liger Zero!"

And with that, Isaac darted downstairs on his bike - or tried to. As soon as he got to the last step, his 'Saber Tiger' 'tripped' - in reality, the left back wheel of his bike got stuck on the step. He tumbled down the stair and landed in a heap.

"Isaac!" Once again, the others had to rescue Isaac from his own mess. Carefully, they lifted the bike off the unconscious Isaac, then lifted his limp body up the stairs.

"So, who's gonna place him back onto his bed?" Mia asked. Again, she got her answer, with the sadistic faces of her friends.

"Seriously though," Jenna said, "If Isaac wakes up and finds us here, he'll freak."

"Okay, fair enough." Mia sighed and tries to lift Isaac by his arms, but struggled.

"Um, here," Garet said. He started to glow, and Mia stepped aside. Soon, Isaac was floating in mid-air.

"Let's give the Venus boy some air space, people," Ivan whispered. The others obliged and sidestepped to let floating Isaac a clear road.

A few tense moments later, Isaac was back on his bed. This left someone to cover him up. Mia sweatdropped nervously.

"Do I have to do it?" she asked. Jenna nodded, and Mia sighed.

So, Mia tiptoed into the darkness of Isaac's room, wondering how Garet managed to 'Move' Isaac onto the bed in the first place. However, light from outside told Mia that the door was still open. Of course! Garet could see! ... wait, Garet's eyes were closed. How would he... never mind.

Inside, Isaac was still motionless on the messy blankets strewn on the bed. Mia approached the bed; cautious of certain situations she'd find herself in if Isaac woke up. Silently, she laid the first blanket on top of his still body. Next, she placed a doona cover on top of the blanket, then she looked around. It was a suitably chilly night tonight, so she decided to place a third doona cover on top of the previous two.

She looked nervously at Isaac's face. _What if he woke up?_ she wondered, but the others were urging her to escape while she could. Quickly but quietly, she backtracked again through Isaac's room, but not before smiling to herself.

**

* * *

**

"What took you so long?" Garet asked as Mia rejoined them.

"It's cold, so I put extra covers on him."

"Worried little Isaac's gonna be a little cold?" Ivan sneered. For the first time, Mia glared at him.

"Do you remember when we first met in Imil?" she asked him. He and Garet nodded. "That cold was terrifying, and really dangerous. If I wasn't there to care for the sick people, they'd die." She lowered her voice. "Like my grandparents would've."

"But," Garet said, "When Saturos and Menardi lit the lighthouse, the fountain with healing powers flowed again. You don't need to worry anymore."

"Yes, but don't you see?" Mia said, upset. "People everywhere were ill. The cold was really scary, even for me. What if I'd fallen victim to it and couldn't heal myself? Then everyone would've died!" She was becoming hysterical.

"We understand what you mean," Jenna said, before Garet could speak again, "But what does the Imil illness and tonight have in common?"

Mia calmed down a little. "I guess I was just worried. I care for all of you, and it worries me to think of horrible diseases that the cold could inflict on you. Except," she added, as Jenna and Garet had opened their mouths to speak, "for you two, Jenna and Garet. I know you're Mars Adepts, you can protect yourselves against the cold. And since I'm a Mercury Adept, I'm immune to it. Still, I'm afraid of what could happen if you got struck down with a disease. I can't heal pneumonia, you know." (**A.N.: **_"Yeah, you're seeing deja vu. She said something like that to Isaac in Dragon Empress's "Seven Days", but don't kill me!"_)

Everyone nodded, and Ivan shivered slightly.

"I s'pose it's getting to me. I'd better... wait. Garet, use Flare."

Garet's eyes widened.

"What!"

"You heard me. Before I turn into an ice cube."

Garet shrugged, closed his eyes again and whispered, "Flare." Soon, Ivan was smokin'.

"Ah... that's better..." Ivan looked around at everyone's sweatdropping faces. "What?"

"Nothing..." they chorused. They spent the rest of the night around Garet's Fireball, just in case.

**

* * *

**

**Mini Ivan:** "Why do you need directions to the toilet?"

**Lord Cynic:** "... don't ask."

**Mini's:** "We won't..." (_They look at him strangely_)


	4. Chapters 4 and 5

**Announcer:** "This week's episode of "The Misadventures of Lord Cynic" has been cancelled, due to circumstances beyond our control. Don't look at us, it's not our fault!"

**Turtle wearing a poncho:** "Lord Cynic doesn't own Golden Sun, or Mexico."

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 4 - Aftermath: Enter the Venus Adept**_

Isaac woke up the next day to find out that he was boiling. Realising that he was smothered in three blankets, he threw them off immediately. However, as he climbed out of bed, he got a thumping pain in his head. Trying not to notice, he gingerly stumbled out of his bedroom to find five teenage Adepts asleep on the floor.

He yawned and poked Garet awake.

"Jenna... mmph... oww! ... um... will you marry me?... you will? ..." Garet's eyes popped open, and he looked up to see the blonde Earth Adept standing over him. "Darnit! I was so close!"

"Oh well. Better luck in the real world," Isaac said, sneering.

Garet turned red and muttered unpleasant things under his breath.

"What's going on here, anyway?" Isaac asked, looking around at the dozing bodies.

"Er..." Garet began, "I can explain!"

"Explain what?"

"Let's just get the others awake."

Garet nodded then one by one they nudged the others awake, Jenna first (Garet nearly tripped over her, remembering the dream), Mia last (Isaac seemed to be trying to poke a leaf awake, it was that soft).

"Avast, me hearties! We seek thee treasure coves of the seven seas... oww!" Sheba had bashed Ivan on the head to bring him back into reality.

"Man, this headache's killing me," Isaac muttered, rubbing his head. Everyone looked at each other darkly, but typically, Isaac didn't notice. He had his head down and still looked in considerable pain. Mia looked at him worried, remembering the conversation she and the others had the previous night.

"You should go back to bed, Isaac," she said, but he stubbornly shook his head - or he would've, anyway. As it was, he just grunted.

"How about you, Mia? You don't look 100 to me, either," Jenna said, and Garet. Ivan and Sheba nodded.

"No, I shouldn't. I promised Dora I'd watch Isaac for her," Mia said, but her eyes were baggy, and she looked like a zombie.

"I'm sure my son can look after himself."

Everyone spun around to find Dora had joined the group. Isaac's eyes widened a little.

"Uh... Hello, Mum," he said awkwardly.

"Hello, dear," Dora replied quickly. She turned back to Mia.

"You were awake all night?" Sheba asked. Mia nodded slowly.

"Most of it. I've just had an hour's sleep just now, that's all."

"Well, that just cannot substitute for a good night's sleep," Dora said. "You need a decent rest, Mia, and I won't accept no for an answer."

"But -" Mia began.

"Dora's right," Jenna said. "If you don't get a few hours asleep, you'll be in no condition to care for Isaac." Jenna had a definite teasing tone in her voice, and as the other Adepts sniggered, Mia and Isaac blushed slightly, despite their condition.

Dora smiled.

"Then it's settled," she concluded. But as she started to lead an exhausted Mia into Isaac's room, he sped into it hurriedly.

"Sorry!" he called.

"Isaac, what are you -" Dora began, but Isaac reappeared quicker than darkness to a room with the lights turned off. He was breathing quickly, as if he was frightened of something.

"Sorry," he said again. Suddenly, the pain returned to his head and he knelt down, holding his head. Everyone, Mia included, looked at him worriedly.

"You all right, bro?" Garet asked.

"Argh... I - I'm fine," Isaac muttered, but still Dora looked doubtful.

"I said this long ago on the day you, Garet and Jenna set off on your adventure," she said impatiently, "You're just as stubborn as your father!"

Garet and Jenna remembered that all too well.

"I don't care what you say, you're not well. You're getting some rest," Dora said, and then turned to Mia. "You too, Missy."

"But -"

However, Dora dragged Mia into Isaac's room, and that was that. After Dora came out, she glared at Isaac.

"I'm waiting, young man."

"Yes, Mum," Isaac said, and he stumbled into a guest room. He seemed to be looking a little drunk, but that might've been because of the headache.

When the door closed with a sharp wham, Dora dropped her touch expression and grew a smile. The others became scared.

"I swear," Dora said, "These two are like peas in a pod, never wanting to check for their own safety and health."

Suddenly, Felix crashed into the house and stomped upstairs.

"Felix! Felix! Felix!" unknown audiences cheered from the middle of nowhere, Jerry Springer style. Felix bowed briefly before advancing on the teenage Adepts. He was holding an unlabelled bottle, and his hair looked a shade of lime green. Everyone took one look at him, and then covered their mouths quickly to stifle their laughs. This infuriated Felix even more, and he glared at them as he held out the label-less bottle.

"Someone changed my shampoo," he said in a Severus Snape-ish voice. "Someone has changed my shampoo to hair colouring, and I want to know who... oh, hello, Dora," he added, having spotted her.

"Hello, Felix," Dora replied casually. "Excuse me kids, but I have some laundry to do." She left, leaving the younger Adepts to face the older psycho Adept.

"I'm waiting," Felix said impatiently. Everyone was still trying to pull his or her gaze from his wacky hair.

"Erm, we don't know what you're talking about, dear brother," Jenna said, feigning innocence (or trying to).

"I must say, though," Ivan added, "That hair really suits you."

Everyone looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" Felix asked coldly.

"Well," Ivan began, "You're a Venus Adept, and that hair makes you look like a tree."

That broke the dam holding back everyone's laughter, and they collapsed on the floor, laughing their butts off. Felix's face became an image of twisted fury, and everyone quickly fell silent.

"You think this hair is funny?" he spat, spraying Jenna and Garet. "I'm still waiting for someone to fess up."

Just then, Isaac re-emerged from a guest room, rubbing his eyes. Felix rounded on him.

"Do you know the meaning of this?" he said, waving the guilty bottle in front of Isaac's face.

Isaac took one look at it, then a thin smile spread across his face. The others watched him curiously as he recalled events of the previous day in his mind.

**

* * *

**

_"What's all the fuss, guys?" Isaac said with a wide grin on his face. "Babysitter schmaybesitter! It concerns not a Jedi like myself." _

_Everyone's eyes grew wider than satellite dishes. _

_"Isaac, what -" Mia started, but Isaac was already setting off towards town. _

_"... I think he's lost it," Ivan said, and everyone murmured some word of agreement as they followed Isaac into town. _

**

* * *

**

_As the group of Adepts entered town, a strange man in a green tunic held them up (No, not Link). He was holding a tray of peculiar-looking purple-iced cupcakes, which seemed to be giving off a weird scent. Everyone shrugged as_ _they walked past him and wandered into the nearby Weapons Shop. Everyone, that is, except Garet. _

_"I'll take two," he said, and although the price was suspiciously high, he wolfed_ _down the cupcakes greedily. Smacking his lips, he turned around to thank the man, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. Looking around, he realised the group had disappeared into the Weapons Shop, and he hurried in after them. _

_"Shh!" Ivan demanded, putting finger to lips. Garet nodded and the group continued exploring the shop. Finding nothing of value, they left then found a convenience store and entered. _

_"Excellent," Isaac muttered, rubbing his hands together. "It's all going to plan..." _

_The others followed him at an increased distance. _

_"Anyone know what -" Garet stopped abruptly. He spoke again. "Does ... Hey! What happened to my voice?" _

_Everyone except Isaac and Mia (who had continued on ahead) held their mouths shut tightly, in a vain attempt to smother their laughter. Garet slid quietly back out of the store, desperate to avoid attracting attention, and Jenna, Ivan and Sheba followed him out, mouths bulging like volcanoes._

**

* * *

**

_"Now," Isaac muttered to himself, "Where's the place for the hair products?..." _

_He paced carefully up and down the aisles with Mia following quietly behind him. Eventually he stopped at Aisle 87 (**A.N.: **_"Don't ask."_)and hurried down to the hair colouring section. _

_"Isaac, what are you doing?" Mia asked timidly. Isaac's mouth turned upwards into an evil smirk. _

"A certain Venus Adept friend of ours is going to get a nasty surprise when he takes his next shower," he said smugly, looking up and down the shelves. Eventually he located the bottle he was looking for, then used "Catch" to retrieve it. He then turned to Mia, who stepped back nervously.

_"W-What's wrong?" she asked, but Isaac resumed his innocent act. _

_"Oh, nothing. C'mon, let's get outta here and find the others." _

_Mia nodded, then she and Isaac looked around. _

_"Uh, where are we?" Mia asked nervously, but the look on Isaac's face told her he didn't know either. _

**

* * *

**

_"Say something else," Sheba urged Garet. He shook his head stubbornly, and everyone sighed. _

_"Forget it," Ivan said, "He's too much of a wuss." _

_"Oy! I resent that!" Garet shouted, but a squeaky voice came out of his mouth. Jenna, Ivan and Sheba erupted in laughter again, and Garet's face twisted in_ _contained fury._ _However, his squeaky voice prevented any feeling of fear he was trying to achieve, and this angered him even more._

_Luckily, Isaac and Mia finally managed to escape the store, so any chance of Garet exploding became non-existent. They looked around at the band of Merry Adepts and sweatdropped slightly. _

_"What happened?" Mia asked. Slow, smug smiles grew on the faces of Jenna, Ivan and Sheba, and Garet suddenly closed his mouth as if the end of the world was contained inside of it. _

_"Jenna, would you like to do the honours?" Sheba asked. _

_"Well, I'll put Garet out of his misery quickly," Jenna said, then took a deep breath to swallow any more giggles that might escape. "Garet's voice has become squeaky." _

_A spout of laughter erupted from Isaac's mouth before he could cover it. Garet glared at him coldly, but instead of being intimidated, Isaac's grin grew wider. _

_"What's so funny?" Garet demanded. However, his squeaky voice erased any source of authority, and everyone rolled on the ground laughing. Garet seethed with fury. _

**

* * *

**

_A mysterious figure's head popped out of the bushes outside Felix and Jenna's house. After checking that no one was in sight, he jumped out, armed with a familiar bottle; however, it had no label. He wore a plastic mask, just in case, and entered the house. _

_The stranger was swift and silent in his intrusion into the bathroom of the house. Discovering it, he slipped into it quietly and looked around. Brushes, containers of make-up lipsticks, hair gel, wigs... wigs? ... Never mind. In the corner of his_ eye_, he found what he was looking for: a labelled bottle reading:_ 'Felix's Shampoo! Touch and you'll be sitting on a different kind of Mt. Aleph!'

_The stranger smirked, ripped off the label, and then pasted it on the unlabelled bottle. Suddenly, he heard someone enter the house, and quickly made his escape, Felix's bottle in hand._

**

* * *

**

"What's so funny?" Felix demanded. Isaac's expression had become spacey again, so he zoned back into reality and took a moment to remember what was going on.

"… Huh? I don't know what you mean, Felix," he said, shrugging. Felix wasn't amused, so he positioned himself in front of the stairs. Isaac yawned idly.

"I'm not leaving until I get a confession," Felix said, folding his arms.

"Whatever," Isaac said. "Just try and keep your voice down. Mia's asleep in the next room.

"Who, Mia?" Felix smirked a little, and Isaac became taken aback. "She hasn't seen your secret, has she?"

"I'm going back to sleep," Isaac said suddenly. "And Felix, good luck - you'll need it." He yawned again and went back to the guest room, a confident but faulty smile playing on his face, although no one saw it.

"What was that about?" Jenna asked Felix, who was still smirking.

"Simple. As we all know, Isaac and Mia like each other -"

"They do?" Garet asked. Everyone groaned. "What?"

"How slow are you?" Ivan asked exasperatedly. "That's been obvious since they day we met Mia back in Imil."

"Oh… oh! That's why he goes googly every time he sees her," Garet said. Jenna whacked him on the head with annoyance. "Oww!"

"Shush!" Ivan said. Jenna grumbled, then Ivan turned back to Felix. "Yeah, so what's this about a secret?"

"Well…" Felix began, and then started to remember a flashback of his own…

* * *

"_Hail, Princess Mia!" _

_Isaac bowed repeatedly before a large picture of the Water Adept. He was in his room – well, sorta. _

_Isaac's room has several tweaks, secret compartments and stuff other people wouldn't usually know about. First was the basic scene of the average teenager. _

_This was the neutral setting of Isaac's room and was usually set when visitors came to call. It consisted of an untidy wardrobe, jammed with clothes; his medium-sized bed with the blankets sprawled all over it; a rack for his bike and the bike itself; a TV; and a set of shelves, filled with books. _

_A certain book concealed a secret switch – the book was _"Ways To Infuriate Venus"_, the switch was green. When the switch was activated, Isaac's room would transform into a secret cove. The cove was a shrine to a certain Mercury Adept, and that Mercury Adept was… Mia!_ (**A.N.: **"Permission to hurt anyone who didn't see that coming? Thanks.")

_Shrines being shrines, this one consisted of the basics: A giant picture of the idol/king/queen/similar almighty person (Let's just call the person a God/Goddess for the meantime); a life-size statue of the God/Goddess; miscellaneous items belonging to or associated with the person (In this case, a lock of Mia's hair); and of course the person who worships the God/Goddess. As a way to avoid people listening in to regular rituals, the shrine was also fitted with soundproof walls. Lastly, a comfortable floor is essential for effecting grovelling – you don't want to get scabby knees when you're praying. This floor was of the softest fabric, and was somehow decorated with Mercury Djinni pictures._

_Anyway, enough textbook information, let's get back to the flashback. Isaac seemed to be grovelling in his Shrine of Mia (Or SoM – I don't think there's an inappropriate translation of that acronym), and didn't know that Felix had come for a visit. Felix seemed to have run out of hair gel, and he was too lazy to go buy some more. No one else was at home at the time, so Felix decoded to pay Isaac a__little "Hello, good to see you" visit. That usually translates to: "Hello, shorty. I'm here to make your day a living Hell" – in Isaac's case, anyway. _

_However, Isaac forgot one minor detail when he designed his SoM – a lock for the door. So, he didn't expect Felix to catch him. _

"_Oh, Princess Mia! I worship thee, I love thee, I cherish thee! Speak to me, oh Almighty Mercury Adept!"_

_Felix couldn't resist, so he cleared his throat and imitated a feminine voice. Yeah, __I'm scared, too. _

"_Isaac, I love you! I love you with all my heart!" _

"… _what the?" Isaac spun around and saw Felix, who was trying to keep a straight face and hold back laughter at the same time (Which is difficult, let me tell you)._

"_Hello, Isaac."_

"_What are you doing here?" Isaac gasped. _

"_I came to borrow some hair gel," Felix said. He took a moment to examine the SoM. "Although I must say, you've done a fantastic job with the decorating." _

_Isaac flushed with shock and embarrassment, and then pounded a switch on the back wall. In a flash, the cove transformed back into Isaac's untidy room, then Isaac then turned to Felix, redder than a soccer fan at a netball game._

"_This way," he said, then led Felix to the bathroom._

"_What type of sinister plans do you have in mind, now that you've seen my Shrine of Mia?" Isaac asked, opening a cabinet and grabbing a bottle of hair gel. _

"_Shrine of Mia?" Felix laughed. "That's a good one. But don't worry. Blackmail's for the weak and incompetent. I'll keep the information for my own, less devious, purposes." _

_Isaac didn't like the sound of that, but he handed Felix the bottle and led him out of the house. As Felix left and the door closed gently, Isaac leaned against the wall, dreading the possibilities and the consequences of his own incompetence. _

_Outside, Felix held the bottle of hair gel, wearing a twisted grin. He certainly did have plans, and they weren't pleasant…_

**

* * *

**

Felix had his eyes closed, with the same twisted grin on his face as in the flashback. Everyone had stepped back from him, and was sweatdropping.

"And we're back!" Garet said in a sarcastic manner. "Hopefully our next guest is back in whatever century this is. Let's give it up for... Felix!"

Felix opened his eyes.

"Shut up," he said, fixing Garet with another icy glare.

"Do you mind telling us what you were grinning about?" Sheba asked impatiently.

Several options swam through Felix's mind. Should he spill the beans? Should he keep his mouth shut? Should he lead them to a path of ultimate confusion and chaos through means of an irrelevant subject? All valid choices, and Felix couldn't decide.

"We're waiting," Jenna said irritably. Felix looked around at the younger Adepts, as they awaited his answer.

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 5 - "A bizarre twist of fate" A.K.A "The Icebreaker"**_

Felix swallowed and pressed the lever on the slot machine. Er, that is, he finally made his decision on the little dilemma he faced.

"... Garet has a drinking problem."

Cue satellite dishes for eyes. Everyone was staring at Garet, except for Felix who started whistling idly. Garet had a look of pure horror on his face and he looked around at the others.

"... I like drinking bourbon. It soothes the mind."

"Not to mention drowns it in a potential pool of stupidity," Ivan said. Everyone nodded and Felix breathed an inaudible sigh of relief, glad that he escaped his interrogation.

"Whoa, wait, wait!" Garet said finally. "This isn't about me, darnit! This is about Isaac and his secret!"

That seemed to break the ice.

"Isaac has one, too?" Jenna exclaimed.

That shattered the ice into tiny shards. The shards fell onto the floor, covering it with water and causing people to slip if they walked onto it. The shards laughed and yelled, "Haha!" as people continuously slipped on them and broke their spines. Huh? Oh yeah.

"Wait a minute," Felix said. "What do you mean, too?"

"Erm..." Jenna turned pink. "Does Isaac's secret happen to be a shrine to a certain Mercury Adept?"

Garet and Felix nodded.

"Then you know what I mean," Jenna said.

Felix nodded while Garet was still trying to figure it out.

"This already seems terribly clichéd," Ivan muttered, although no one heard him.

"Sorry, but I still don't know what you mean," Garet confessed, scratching his head. Jenna positively screamed and started chasing Garet around the house with a frying pan.

Felix sweatdropped, and the three seemed to have forgotten a pair of younger Jupiter Adepts. Ivan and Sheba were hidden in the corner - playing cards.

"Go fish," Ivan said, smirking. Sheba swore under her breath and drew a card.

"Y'know," Ivan said suddenly, "You could've used Mind Read and found out I had a Clubs after all." Ivan showed her his Queen of Clubs, making Sheba fume and bash him on the head with a kettle. This attracted Felix's attention and he looked over at the two Jupiter Adepts, one huffing and holding a cordless kettle three quarters filled with gravy, and another unconscious on the floor.

"No one messes with me while playing cards and gets away with it," Sheba said, eyes closed and kettle over her shoulder. Due to the laws of physics and gravity, the gravy spilt on the floor, and Sheba ended up slipping on it and rendering herself unconscious.

Felix sweatdropped nervously and watched Jenna chase Garet through the house, still with a frying pan in her hand.

**

* * *

**

Isaac sat up in bed. His migraine had disappeared but he still had his head in his hands. He seemed to be stressing about something.

_Perhaps I should tell her_, he thought. W_hat's the worst that can happen?_

That's when he heard a tiny voice in his head.

_She'll break your heart. If you confess your feelings to her now and she rejects you, you'll be shattered._

_Are you sure?_ Isaac asked in his mind.

_I'm positive,_ the voice replied. _You'll only end up making things worse._

Suddenly, another voice piped up.

_I disagree,_ it said. _If you don't confess your love for her sooner or later, you'll never get another chance._

"Huh?" Isaac became confused.

_Oy! _ yelled the first voice. _Buzz off!_

_I have a right to be here, y'know,_ the second voice said defiantly.

As the voices continued bickering, Isaac's eyes kept darting left and right while he struggled to understand. Eventually his eyes became swivelled and he passed out.

_... That was your fault, _the first voice said.

_'I'll get you for this, _the second voice replied, growling. The first voice laughed rudely.

**_

* * *

_ **

Mia tossed and turned in her sleep. She was muttering someone's name.

"Piers... Piers... Pi - Hey!"

**

* * *

**

Mia got up and charged into the author's dressing room, where Lord Cynic was practicing the Macarena.

"'eeeeey, Macaren - Ah! Mia, what are you doing here?"

Mia marched up to him and glared with all her might.

"You think this is funny?" she screamed, throwing the script at him. He picked it up and read what she indicated.

"What the... oh, no, no, no. This is all wrong," he said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked, face relaxing.

"This is tomorrow's script," Lord Cynic replied, flipping it over and reading the back. Mia lost it and encased Cynic in a -50 degree ice cube.

"You sick pervert!" she shrieked, marching back out of the dressing room. Lord Cynic remained in his crystal form, wondering where the outburst came from. Eventually the heating allowed him to thaw, and he turned the music back on.

"Now, hands out, over, crossed on my chest..." he recited to himself.

**

* * *

**

**Take Two! Scenario: Isaac's Room. Lights, camera, action! **

"Isaac... Isaac... Isaac..." Mia repeated, shaking her head desperately.

**

* * *

**

_"Let's be careful, guys," Isaac warned. "The Fusion Dragon won't be a pushover!" _

_Garet, Ivan and Mia nodded, and then turned back to the Fusion Dragon. It was breathing smoke and towering over them, looking generally menacing. However, while to the naked eye she seemed to be watching the giant beast, Mia was secretly watching Isaac as he confidently drew his Gaia Blade from his scabbard._

_Since Isaac, Garet and Ivan stumbled upon Mia in Imil, Isaac had transformed from a shy, nervous boy to a courageous, skilled young man. During the adventure, his already admirable confidence had increased, and Mia found herself falling for the Venus Adept. From his spiky blonde hair to the way he handled a sword in battle, Mia thought he was a dream come true. Boys in her hometown of Imil had frequently asked her out, labelling her a figure of beauty. But not once did Mia share the same feelings for any of them. That had changed when a bumbling band of three Adepts had stumbled upon her mystical healing powers. Since then, they had travelled as a team, helping each other through all situations._

_Sometimes, when she thought no one was looking, she'd watch Isaac during his private training. She'd wonder if she thought she'd be able to build up the courage to admit her feelings to him. Each and every time, a distraction intervened, and she'd spend the rest of the day ruing her lost opportunity._

_Now, here she was, facing a massive beast. On one side of her was a spiky-haired Mars Adept by the name of Garet, with an obvious crush on one of Saturos and Menardi's hostages. Each time he looked at her, (Jenna, for those not cottoning on) his heart crumbled and he babbled uncontrollably. On Mia's other side was a short blonde Jupiter Adept by the name of Ivan. Since meeting Sheba, another of Saturos and Menardi's hostages, Mia wondered if those two were related - they did share a strange resemblance to each other. And in front of her was the blonde Venus Adept dreamboat. She never thought her good deeds in Imil would pay so, well, handsomely. _

_"Mia? Hello?" _

_Mia opened her eyes and found that everyone was staring at her, Isaac included. She blushed, and then held her Crystal Rod at the ready. _

_"Right," Isaac said, turning back to the Fusion Dragon, "Time to meet your maker." _

_"Your overconfidence will be your downfall," the Fusion Dragon said, then it suddenly lunged at the Adepts. _

* * *

Meanwhile, Isaac was also behaving restless in his sleep. Like Mia, he was muttering someone's name - no surprises as to whose name. However, he was clutching something close to his heart: an emerald from Mia's special tiara.

"I'll protect you... I'll protect you..." he muttered.

**

* * *

**

_"Watch out!" Isaac yelled, then dove at Ivan. They rolled safely out of the way as the Fusion Dragon landed heavily on the ground. Quick as a flash, it recovered and flared its nostrils threateningly, but Isaac grew a Yami Yugi smirk_ (**A.N.: **"Yu-Gi-Oh... you'd probably not understand.")

_"Is that all you've got?" he said, leaning on his Gaia Blade and yawning. His friends grew extremely nervous, the Fusion Dragon very irritated. _

_"Isaac, are you sure you - whoa!" Garet rolled quickly out of the way of one of the Fusion Dragon's flaming spirals (**A.N.: **_"Y'know, I'm just gonna type FD instead of Fusion Dragon. Waste of time and space, otherwise.")

_"This isn't a good idea," Ivan said nervously, but he closed his eyes and summoned a "Tornado!"_

_Suddenly, a massive whirlwind blew towards the monster, but it stamped out the tiny tornado (at least from its perspective) with little fuss. _

_"Child's play," the FD said with a loud snort. Ivan and Mia sweatdropped exasperatedly, but when they looked at Isaac, they found him with his eyes closed. Soon, Isaac was enveloped in an emerald glow. _

_"Mother Gaia!" he bellowed, and an avalanche of boulders fell heavily on the gigantic monster, rendering it unconscious. _

_Isaac dusted his hands off and watched the pile of rubble wearily. Garet, Ivan and Mia stepped out and glanced at the stones, somewhat with less trepidation than Isaac._

_"Well, that's that," Garet said confidently. Ivan nodded, then propped himself on his Kikuichimonji, looking at the fallen body of the FD. _

_Isaac and Mia seemed less convinced. Isaac was continuously pacing around the Fusion Dragon, while Mia was tending to people's injuries. Eventually, Isaac sat himself beside the Fusion Dragon and sighed heavily._

_"Something wrong, Isaac?" Mia asked, looking up from healing Ivan's arm. Isaac closed his eyes again and raised his head to the FD. He had a sullen expression on his face._

_"Do you really think this is over?" he asked. Ivan shrugged, Garet raised his eyebrows and Mia gave a look of disbelief. _

_"We can't be too certain," she said, surveying the mess that Isaac's attack made. _

_Isaac nodded, got up then stretched. He seemed to be satisfied that the FD had been defeated once and for all. _

_"Let's get outta here," he said, and everyone nodded. However, as soon as they started to pursue Felix and Sheba, one eye of the FD opened slowly. Eventually, it rose to its feet and snorted loudly. Isaac spun around just as the Fusion Dragon prepared a Dragon Diver. _

_"Watch out!" Isaac yelled, and just in time, he managed to rescue Mia from being flattened by a 100-tonne Loch Ness wannabe. _

_Isaac and Mia rolled to safety, then looked at each other. Both faces were covered in shock, then embarrassment as they stared at each other. Isaac's face was growing redder as the FD fumed._

_"Yo, lovebirds!"_

_The distant shouted from Garet shattered the dome containing Isaac and Mia's special world (each were immersed in their own world, but neither knew about the other's fantasy land). Both jumped, and then looked alarmingly at the Fusion Dragon, who was stomping furiously towards them. It was growing continually more agitated, like Isaac, who swore he'd try to kill Garet after this. Ivan got the feeling that the FD and Isaac had some serious temper problems._

_"Let's get cautious, guys," Isaac said, springing into action once again._

**

* * *

**

"_We... won't lose!" the FD cried, as it stumbled around weakly. _

_Isaac didn't take this in fully; he was cleaning his Gaia Blade with a cloth, and didn't seem to notice the Fusion Dragon's declaration. Garet, Ivan and Mia watched him nervously again, twiddling their thumbs. _

_Isaac looked at them, then put down his things and put his hands on his hips. _

_"Anything wrong, guys?" he asked, and the others quickly shook their heads and muttered, "No... no." _

_Suddenly, the Fusion Dragon gave an almighty roar and launched another attack on Mia. _

_"Dum dee dum - Mia!" _

_Isaac dropped his stuff except for his Gaia Blade, filled with fury. Garet and Ivan looked up from their Poker game to see a blonde Earth Adept filled with rage. His eyes contained a fire neither Garet nor Ivan knew or saw before. Indeed, they were downright freaked, and scuttled into a corner, clutching their cards with shaking hands. _

_"You will pay for that!" Isaac yelled, and ran to catch Mia before she collapsed onto the ground. "You killed my father, and I won't let you kill one of my friends!" _

_He set Mia down safely somewhere out of the way. Mia out of harm's way, Isaac turned around to face the massive menace._

_"If you want to try and kill one of us, try killing me," he said, picking up his Gaia Blade again. _

_Mia had recovered by now, and she was watching this confrontation without making a sound. Only when Isaac made his pronouncement did she call out worriedly, "Isaac, no!" _

_"Mia," Isaac began, turning around to face her, "I won't let these monsters destroy the world! And I won't let them kill one of my best friends!" Isaac stopped for a moment. "My true love," he said to himself, but he raised his voice to continue. "So, if I have to sacrifice myself for the future of Angara, the whole world, so be it. I'm not changing my mind on this," he added, seeing Mia open her mouth. She merely nodded. _

_"Are you sure?" she asked timidly._

_"Dead positive," Isaac replied. The FD snorted with contempt. _

_"And dead you shall soon be," it said. _

_"We'll see about that," Isaac said, smirking slyly. _

_And with that, Isaac and the Fusion Dragon launched into battle. _

**

* * *

**

_The scene was pleasantly cheerful. Birds were singing, bees were buzzing and the sun was shining. The mountains provided a nice change of scenery, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Yes, it truly was a beautiful day, without a doubt. No odd things in sight._

_"12, 26, 8, hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!" _

_Okay, I lied. The ice shards were back, and playing American Footy (or Rugby, whatever). They even had miniature helmets and uniforms, and a miniscule ice football. _

_"31, 82, 48, hut!"_

_"You join us at a fantastic time," an ice commentator announced. "It's the Glaciers vs the Icebergs, and it's 9-8 in favour of the Icebergs!" _

_We leave this confusion to find Isaac and the Fusion Dragon sitting at a table... playing cards? Not again..._

_"Hah! 2 pairs," the FD declared, revealing his cards. Isaac snorted. _

_"Straight flush," he said, showing his cards. The FD fumed with fury. _

_"Cheater!" it said, throwing aside the table. Isaac jumped aside with alarm and wielded his Gaia Blade. _

_"Oh, no you don't," he said, and he struck the FD with immense force. Surprisingly, that was all it took to destroy the FD once and for all. Its body lay motionless on the ground, and Isaac spat on it. _

_"Pitiful," he said, eyes narrowed with contempt. With the FD defeated once and for all, he ran back to the other Adepts, and such is life_ (**A.N.: **"Sorry.").

**

* * *

**

Isaac sat up in bed. He was sweating profusely.

"I gotta tell her how I feel," he says, but his strength left him, and he fell back into bed.

**

* * *

**

**Lord Cynic:** "... sorry. I know you expect better of me. I won't disappoint next time... I promise that."

**Mini Garet:** "Pfft!"

**Lord Cynic:** "Ah, stick it."


	5. Truth and Tequila

_Lord Cynic wanders around his lair, drunk as a skunk._

**Lord Cynic:** "75 Marios on the wall, 75 Marios. If one of those Marios should happen to fall, 74 Marios on the wall..."

_The Minis are watching him with pity._

**Mini Isaac:** "Should someone tell him?"

**Mini Sheba:** "I wouldn't."

**Mini Ivan:** "Leave him to his mess I say."

**Mini Isaac:** "All right..."

**Lord Cynic:** (_noticing the audience and quickly becoming sober_) "Er, um… sorry!"

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 6 - "Truth and Tequila"**_

Isaac eventually woke up before Mia did. He stumbled back to the landing to find a complete mess.

"What happened?" he asked, looking around. Garet and Jenna, who were still running around, froze on the spot, and Ivan and Sheba (who had revived) looked up from their Tic-Tac-Toe games. Felix also remained; he, too, was watching the shenanigans of the younger Adepts.

"Er, nothing," Garet said quickly. Isaac looked at a drop of gravy on the floor and raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing. Jenna followed his gaze and laughed nervously, putting her frying pan behind her back, but Ivan and Sheba went back to playing Tic-Tac-Toe.

"Is Mia up yet?" Isaac asked, all too quickly. Garet gave a thin smirk.

"She's still asleep," Jenna said, shooting a warning glare at Garet. Isaac twiddled his thumbs nervously and watched his bedroom door, expecting it to twitch.

"She won't wake up quicker if you stand there like a fire hydrant," Garet said. "I swear, sometimes you're worse than a rabbit without a carrot."

"I can't help it," Isaac said, and he started to dance on the spot.

"Don't be so pathetic," Felix said finally. Isaac and Garet turned around and looked at him, while Jenna, knowing she wasn't needed, walked over to Ivan and Sheba and watched them play "Paper, Scissors, Rock".

"What are you saying, Felix?" Garet asked him. Felix snorted.

"Oh, wake up," he said irritably. "She's not dying, for Venus's sake! Get over it!" He walked over to Garet and Isaac and looked them in the eye. "I mean it! You need to lighten up, Isaac! Remember, I spent a lot of time with Saturn and Melody. And yes, I know their names," he added, before Isaac or Garet could open their mouths. "I didn't enjoy travelling with them, because I didn't agree with their decisions. But this isn't about them. You need to relax once in a while, Isaac..." He smirked suddenly. "Personally, I'm starting to think Mia's good for you. Maybe she'll teach you to take things less seriously, heh, heh, heh."

Isaac growled, but paused.

"Hold on, why are you being so... pleasant about this?" he asked, having trouble finding the right world to describe Felix's expression.

"I'll be dead before I see a fellow Venus Adept behaving like a baby without its bottle," he said, making Isaac frown again.

Garet wasn't listening or watching; he was going down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Isaac asked.

"The kitchen," Garet replied, and within three seconds, he was gone. Isaac and

Felix looked at each other, and then descended the stairs after him. They met him in the kitchen.

Garet was rummaging through the wine cabinets when they joined him.

"What are you looking for?" Isaac asked, watching Garet wrench open cupboard doors. Garet froze briefly, holding the door of one of the cupboards.

"… Alcohol," he said sheepishly.

Felix snorted with laughter while Isaac sweatdropped nervously.

"Since when did you start drinking alcohol?" Isaac asked.

"You don't want to know," Garet replied darkly. Isaac was about to say something else when a short blonde teenage boy appeared next to him, by way of a massive tornado. As soon as the tornado disappeared, the boy regained his composure, although he shivered uncontrollably.

"What's wrong with you?" Felix asked. Ivan shuddered.

"I'm learning the laws of life the hard way," he said. Garet raised an eyebrow as he turned around from investigating a nearby cabinet, holding a bottle of tequila. Ivan took one look at the bottle, but with knowledge of Garet's drinking problem in his mind said nothing about it.

"What which law is that?" Isaac asked, taking Ivan's attention away from Garet's tequila bottle and Garet's maniacal smirk. Ivan shuddered again, and against his better judgement, Isaac gave a small, but noticeable smile. Ivan scowled before answering.

"Never anger a girl with the power to sweep you halfway through Angara."

Isaac and Felix laughed out loud, and Ivan became furious.

Suddenly, a loud belch came from Garet, and everyone present spun around to look at him. He looked disorientated and very smashed.

"What the -" Ivan began, but Garet was halfway through reciting a poet about butterflies.

"_How graceful is their gentle flight,_

_To dance so freely though the night._

_If only life was just as sweet,_

_We could all enjoy this fabulous treat._

_And so as they flutter near and far,_

_I watch one get crushed by a car."_

For no reason, he broke down completely. He started sobbing uncontrollably, and Felix became annoyed again.

"Someone shut him up!" he hissed, then looked upstairs to see if Jenna or Sheba had heard Garet's racket.

Ivan obliged and cast Sleep on Garet.

"That poor butterfly! I can't believe that… someone… would…" Garet trailed off, and he began to sway on the spot.

"He's starting to fall! Get a pillow!" Isaac yelled at Felix, but Felix was still looking upstairs. "Oy! Felix!"

"Huh?" Felix spun around.

"Pillow! Quick!" Isaac repeated. Felix nodded and darted into the TV room. Six seconds later, he reappeared with a cushion. Miraculously, Garet was still swaying on the spot, so Felix had another 22 seconds to position the cushion before Garet fell backwards onto the floor.

Felix sighed with relief, but caught sight of the half-empty tequila bottle. He wasn't the only one, however; Isaac and Ivan were eyeing it greedily. All three glanced at each other in a "Get away, that's mine!" way, then looked back at the tequila.

"Adepts, ready!"

Out of nowhere, Mr. Referee from Medabots crashed through a nearby window.

Isaac, Ivan and Felix sweatdropped as Mr. Referee picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off.

"Okay, is everybody ready?" he asked.

"Er, we'd better do this outside," Isaac said nervously, watching broken shards of glass fall out of the already smashed window.

"Yeah, fair enough," Felix said. "C'mon, you two help me carry hedgehog boy here outside. We don't want him making any noise."

Isaac and Ivan nodded, and within fives minutes had helped lift Garet out of the house. Mr. Referee followed, excited about the prospect of battle.

As soon as they were outside, Mr. Referee cleared his throat.

"Adepts, ready! Psybattle!"

Isaac began by forming a Ragnarok. He held it in his hand with his Psynergy, and prepared to counter any incoming attacks. However, Felix and Ivan were preoccupied: Felix was trying to build up strength for a Mother Gaia, while Ivan was floating in midair (somehow) like Yoda. He seemed to be concentrating extremely hard on something.

"Unsurprisingly one-sided, this battle shouldn't be," he said in an uncanny impersonation of Yoda. Isaac sweatdropped, while the boulders of Felix's attack froze momentarily. They were soon hovering over his head, however.

"Prepare to lose to a superior Adept!" he declared.

"Yeah, me!" Isaac objected.

"You won't know what hit you when I'm finished," Ivan said, and he started to form a Spark Plasma attack.

Then as one, all their attacks hit each other head on, and the battle had well and truly begun.

**

* * *

**

Since Ivan's unexpected trip about Angara by way of tornado, Sheba was becoming increasingly irritable with boredom. Once she'd even tried to wake Mia up abruptly with a tiny plasma attack, but Jenna stopped her with another flare. Since then, Sheba had been sitting uncomfortably outside Isaac's bedroom door and was seemingly set to knock it down. Jenna was acting as the watchmen… er… woman, hoping Sheba wouldn't try another stunt or there'd be hell to pay.

Luckily, this wasn't to be as the doorknob twitched slightly. Soon, Mia crept out of Isaac's bedroom, looking pale.

"What happened to you?" Jenna asked, watching Mia rub her eyes with exhaustion.

"Oh… just had a nightmare," Mia replied, and then she looked around. "Where'd everybody go?"

"Er…" To be honest, neither Jenna nor Sheba knew where the boys had gone (with perhaps the obvious exception of Ivan). They looked between each other nervously.

"They… had to go to Market," Sheba lied. Mia became slightly worried.

"Oh dear. I hope they're not in any trouble," she said.

"They're men," Sheba said impatiently. "Knowing them, they're probably trying to prove themselves as Master Adepts, and are probably trying to kill each other right now."

Jenna smirked.

"Definitely true in Felix and Garet's case," he said.

"I'm sure Isaac wouldn't be stupid enough to try something like that," Mia said pensively. Oh, poor, innocent, gullible Mia.

"Of course," Sheba drawled. "Your _boyfriend _is much too clever to not want to test his skills. You know, so he can impress you."

Mia's face became ruby red as Sheba said that.

"We know your secret," Jenna said in a spooky voice.

"S-Secret?" Mia squeaked. "W-What secret? I haven't got anything to hide."

"Oh, I think you do," Sheba said smugly, sniggering. Then she and Jenna began to pace around the fretful Mia.

"You see," Sheba continued, "We've been observing your behaviour ever since we finished our journey five months ago (Mia's eyes widened) and we know your secret crush."

"W-What do you mean?" Mia stammered, face growing forever redder.

"Oh," Jenna began, and Mia began to feel as if she was being interrogated, "A certain Venus Adept, perhaps? One you've dedicated a whole shrine to?"

Mia became slightly outraged.

"How do you know about that?" she demanded. Jenna and Sheba stopped wearing a hole in the floor.

"Well, you see," Jenna began again, "It was really all an accident..."

**

* * *

**

_"Are you sure she's awake?" Jenna asked nervously, as she and Sheba ascended the stairs._

_"Well, if she's not awake she will be," Sheba replied. Jenna sweatdropped, wondering what nasty tricks Sheba had up her sleeve._

_They reached the top of the stairs, and then looked across the hallway._

_"Okay... which room is Mia's room?" Jenna asked, but Sheba didn't have a clue. _

_So, it was time for a little trial and error._

_There were four doors on each side - eight doors in total. One was Isaac room, and another was Dora's room, so Jenna and Sheba forgot about those. That left six doors to experiment with._

_"Okay... two doors on the left, four doors on the right... Jenna, you take the right side," Sheba concluded. Jenna opened her mouth to argue, but Sheba had already disappeared._

_"How'd she do that?" Jenna wondered aloud, then she sighed and opened her first door: A broom closet. Jenna just managed to jump out of the way of a falling ironing board as it crashed to the floor. Sweatdropping, she sidestepped around the ironing board and proceeded to the next door._

_Jenna opened the door cautiously, and found... piles of Psynergy Stones. Jenna just had time to squeak before she became smothered in the inevitable avalanche. It took three minutes before she could dig her way to the surface, and she began to wonder what they were doing there in the first place. Eventually she crawled out of the mini mountain of Psynergy Stones. Dusting herself off, she cast a dirty look at the culprits, and then continued to the third door._

_It was unusually thinner than the others, and Jenna stepped to the side as she opened it, in case there were anymore nasty surprises. Luckily, there weren't any, and as Jenna peeked inside, she discovered why the door was so thin. The room contained only one thing: a toilet. Jenna fell down in stupidity, and as she recovered, she grew a face. She closed the door slowly, and then proceeded to the final door where she found Sheba, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently._

_"What took you so long?" Sheba asked, foot tapping halted for the moment._

_"See for yourself," Jenna replied, stepping to the side to reveal the results of her misadventures. Sheba took one look at the mayhem and simply nodded without change of expression. "What do you find?"_

_"Nothing much. A bathroom and a second guest bedroom. The wallpaper's quite nice in there, actually." Jenna raised an eyebrow. "What? Can't I comment on the decorating?"_

_"... Never mind," Jenna said quickly. "Should we go in?"_

_"Of course."_

_But as Jenna opened the door, the scene on the other side froze abruptly._

**

* * *

**

_Mia froze, and stared at the door as it rattled._

_"Oh no... erm..." she stammered, then hit a switch on the door. Instantly her private shrine to her favourite Venus Adept transformed back into the simple guestroom._

_The last photo of Isaac (**A.N.: **_"Who'd you expect? Felix?"_) was safely replaced by her_

_Crystal Rod when Jenna and Sheba walked in._

_"Oh, hello," Mia said breathlessly. The other two raised an eyebrow. "I had a nightmare."_

_"Uh huh..." Sheba said dismissively, pacing around the room. Mia's eyes followed her._

_"What are you looking for?" she asked. Sheba spotted something on the floor, but instead of picking it up, she turned back to Mia._

_"Oh, I thought I dropped something in here," she lied, but Mia seemed satisfied enough._

_"Okay, well, I'm gonna head to town. I heard there was a Water Show and I wanted to check it out."_

_"Uh huh..." Sheba said again. Mia bowed to Sheba and Jenna, then departed._

_Sheba watched Mia exit the room, then smirked and picked up the mystery item on the floor._

_"What have you got there?" Jenna asked. Sheba turned around and showed her._

_"A photo of Isaac," she said. Jenna's eyes widened, and she leaned back against the wall. However, she accidentally hit a hidden switch, and she toppled backwards into a hidden hallway._

_"Hey, Jenna!" Sheba called, and she heard a grunt as Jenna recovered and picked herself off the floor._

_"Come and check this out!" she called back, and Sheba obliged and followed Jenna into and through the hallway._

_"You thinking what I'm thinking, J?"_

_"I think I am, S."_

_"It's Discovery Time!" they finished together, as they reached a wooden door. _

_"... Elders first," Sheba said quickly, making Jenna scowl. Sheba shrugged plainly back._

_"Fine," Jenna huffed, and she grasped the door handle with curious hands. _

_Slowly, she twisted the handle until she heard a click, then she pulled the door open._

_If Sheba hadn't noticed the photo of Isaac that was left on the floor earlier, the 17-year-old Jupiter Adept and the 19-year-old Mars Adept would be completely stunned. As it was, they just stood at the doorway, taking in the scene around them._

_Mia's secret shrine to Isaac was no different than Isaac's shrine to Mia, except that there were pictures of Isaac instead of Mia, and a jewel from Isaac's Gaia _

_Blade was showcased in a glass container, instead of Mia's hair. In addition, a jukebox was playing the GS theme in the corner. Lastly, the walls were plastered with Venus Djinn wallpaper, which complemented the several framed photos of Isaac._

_"Well," Jenna said finally, "At least we know what Mia's been doing for three months."_

_Sheba just looked back at Jenna with disbelief._

**

* * *

**

"So, there you go," Jenna concluded. Mia stared at Jenna, mouth open. Sheba seemed to know what Mia was thinking - although that had nothing to do with her ability to read minds.

"Don't worry, we won't your _boyfriend_ about your secret," she said. Mia breathed a sigh of relief, but when she wasn't listening, Sheba crossed her fingers behind her back.

Suddenly, a massive tornado slammed harmlessly against the window, and the girls ran to the window to see what was going on.

**

* * *

**

Isaac, Felix and Ivan were still feuding over the tequila bottle, while Garet was still dozing out of harm's way (if there were such a place).

Status of the battle thus far: Isaac and Ivan had teamed up and taken Felix out of the picture, with well-timed attacks. That left the younger Adepts to battle for the tequila.

"Eat whirlwind!" Ivan bellowed, and he sent a tornado towards Isaac,

"Too predictable," Isaac said in a drawling voice, and he used his (still active) Ragnarok to pole-vault over the tornado. Ivan jumped back in shock, realising that his trademark attack would be useless against Isaac.

"You won't win!" Ivan declared in a somewhat desperate voice.

"This will end it!" Isaac roared, and he summoned Ground to hold Ivan in place.

"Mmph! No!" Ivan grunted, struggling to escape from Ground's grasp.

"The tequila shall be mine!" Isaac shouted, and he struck Ivan with the Ragnarok. Ivan fell to the ground, defeated, and soon Isaac collapsed after him, exhausted.

**

* * *

**

The girls ran downstairs and bolted for the door.

"Oh no, they're hurt!" Mia cried.

"See? What'd I tell ya?" Sheba said sarcastically, folding her arms. Mia and

Jenna gave her faces, but when Jenna turned to the kitchen, she saw the tequila and her eyes lit up.

"Hey, look!" she shouted, and Sheba turned around. Mia was no longer inside with them, because she'd gone out to heal the boys (although a Mt. Aleph explosion wouldn't wake Garet up, so she should've let him be).

Jenna and Sheba walked over to the tequila, and then at once they grabbed one side of the bottle each. They glared at each other and tried to tug the bottle out of each other's hands, but with no luck. Cranky and tempers rising, they started staring daggers at each other.

Suddenly, Jenna stopped.

"Y'know," she said slowly, "There's enough here for both of us."

"Hey, you're right," Sheba said, and the both of them smirked.

**

* * *

**

"Urf... where am I?"

Felix opened his eyes slowly and looked around. Mia was attending to Ivan's injuries, Isaac was still sleeping not too far away, and Ivan's Sleep spell still hadn't run out, because Garet was sound asleep.

"Man, that hurts," Felix said, rubbing his head. Satisfied that Ivan was as good as new, Mia ran over to Isaac. Felix and Ivan watched from afar, the same mischievous look on their faces.

It didn't take long for Isaac to recover, and with eyes half open, he looked up to see a radiant angel kneeling over him. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun, and her equally blue hair swayed in the wind. But as Isaac opened his eyes fully, the angel smiled, and this simple act took his breath away. The angel's smile was a thing of absolute beauty, and it lit up her face like the moon in the dark sky. Indeed, he felt overwhelmed, but it was when she spoke did his heart literally skip a beat.

"Oh good, I'm glad you're awake," she said, smile becoming wider. Isaac face became the image of a tomato, and the angel giggled quietly but sweetly all the same.

"While we're young, please," a revolted voice said, and Isaac's fantasy ended... well, besides the fact that the angel was still kneeling over him, and that the angel had a name: Mia.

Isaac tried to get up, but a piercing pain in his leg prevented him and he sat awkwardly back down again.

"Just relax," Mia said soothingly, and she closed her eyes. Soon, she was glowing, and she placed her hand on the gash on Isaac's leg (…). In a matter of seconds, the gash disappeared, as did the pain. Isaac moved his leg around, then jumped up and stretched. Mia also got up, but she wasn't quite as ecstatic.

"He didn't even notice," she said quietly. She didn't have time to brood though, because Garet was finally walking up. Unfortunately, the first thing he did was recite another (slightly shorter) poem about butterflies.

_"Butterflies dancing on the wall,_

_Beautiful colours shining in the fall._

_But I watch in dismay,_

_As a cat comes their way,_

_And gobbles them up, one and all."_

Felix groaned and started walking towards the house. Ivan quickly followed, hands over his ears in an attempt to drown Garet's noise. Mia also started to follow, but was stopped when Isaac put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked in her typical worried way. Isaac laughed warmly with amusement.

"Don't worry, nothing's wrong," he said, flashing her a smile. "I just want to thank you for healing my leg. Without you, it'd take at least 15 minutes before

I could walk again."

"Oh, you're welcome," Mia said, flushing and smiling back nervously.

They only just realised that their faces were but centimetres away from each other's. As they looked into each other's eyes, the heavens shined down on them.

Slowly they faces grew closer, the pinnacle of their friendship looked set to grow to a new level. Isaac could practically smell the heavenly perfume on Mia, and Mia could see herself in Isaac's eyes. Closer and closer their faces got until they were but an inch away from their destination.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"DAMN!" Isaac swore, and after a short delay, he and Mia reluctantly pulled away.

Oh well, so much for the heavens shining down on them.

They both started running towards the house, wondering who spoiled their moment and swearing that they'd kill the culprit.

They arrived back at the house to find Garet unconscious on the floor.

Immediately they looked to the kitchen and Isaac saw what provoked Garet to scream and collapse.

Sheba and Jenna were finishing the tequila, and they saw the others watching them.

"Cheers!" Sheba said casually, sculling the rest of the tequila. Isaac opened his mouth and, wait for it...

"AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!"


	6. Night Two

_Lord Cynic:_ (_reading a newspaper_) "... No... hmm, nope... oh, maybe..."

**Mini Garet: **"?"

**Lord Cynic:** ""_Wanted: Construction Worker_"... no... "_Wanted: Security Guard_"... no..."

**Mini Isaac:** "Whatcha doin'?"

**Lord Cynic:** "Finding jobs for you lot."

**Mini's:** "... WHAT!"

**Lord Cynic:** "... You're not staying here for free."

**Mini Isaac:** "What do you need the money for?"

**Lord Cynic:** "..."

**Mini Isaac:** "? Cyno, yoo hoo!"

**Lord Cynic:** "... "_Wanted: Nurse._" Mia, you'd be perfect for that."

**Mini Mia:** "H-Huh?"

**Mini Isaac:** (_Drools_)

**Mini Ivan: **"… Er, you guys?"

**Mini Mia:** "Forget it, Ivan. He won't answer."

**Mini Ivan:** "Hmm…"

**Lord Cynic:** "... "_Wanted: Dunce_." Garet, that'll be your job."

**Mini Garet:** "HEY!" (_Toasts Cynic_)

**

* * *

**

**Mini Jenna:** "Lord Cynic doesn't own Golden Sun. He doesn't own Germany, Italy, or fried eggs. He owns us, and he owns this bowl of potato wedges -" (_Shows them_)

**Lord Cynic:** "Potato wedges!" (_Snatches the bowl_)

**Mini Jenna:** "Hey!"

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 7 - Night Two**_

Isaac was in an agitated mood by bedtime (11:30pm). You'd think his half chance of eternal happiness with Mia (**A.N.: **_"Wait, wait, hold on! I mean their near miss kiss, that's all... hey, that rhymes! Shweet!"_) would cool him down, wouldn't you? I beg to differ, little people...

**

* * *

**

_Isaac shuffled around the house, searching for alcohol (yeah, he still wanted his prize for winning the battle). He was about to check the kitchen again for the 73rd time, when Mia appeared from upstairs._

_"I've checked everywhere else," she said. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing left."_

_"AAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!"_

**

* * *

**

As a result, Isaac was as furious as a red bull looking at itself in the mirror. Without saying goodnight, he shut himself in his bedroom.

Mia sighed to herself as she sat back in her chair.

"It'll never happen," she whispered sadly to herself. She stared across the hallway at Isaac's door, remembering how close his face was to hers, and wishing she could see herself in his eyes again.

**

* * *

**

Isaac was still awake, and was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor in the darkness.

"I could've told her," he said to himself." "Damnit, if it weren't for Garet, I could've shown her how I feel! I'll kill him!"

_Don't be so hard on yourself,_ a calm voice inside his head said. _It's never too late to confess your feelings._

_Speak for yourself,_ scoffed another voice in Isaac's head. _You can't even get Tonic to notice you unless you're both being used in battle - and that hasn't been for years!_

"What the... Flint? Granite? Get out here!"

In a flash, the two Venus Djinni popped out and sat on Isaac's shoulders, grinning widely. Isaac wasn't amused.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. Instantly, the grins turned into looks of shock and resentment.

_What do you mean?_ Granite asked.

"I mean this whole... attempt at pretending to help me," Isaac replied.

_Oh, that,_ Flint said apathetically. _Well, really, it's just a plan to takeover all of Weyard._

_Shut up,_ Granite hissed, making Flint scowl. _Seriously, we just want to help you make the right decision. Well, I do, anyway. Flint's obviously deranged._

Flint's maniacal smirk disappeared from his face.

_Well, then,_ he said huffily. _Just who was the first one to find Isaac and Garet? What were you doing until they found you? Probably getting yourself drunk at the Tolbi Springs, I bet._

_At least I didn't mistake a Ape for a date,_ Granite shot back. That caused Flint to snap, and he launched at Granite.

Amidst the Djinni war, Isaac changed into his Djinn pyjamas (Venus Djinni T-Shirt, Mercury Djinni shorts (**A.N.: **_"Comment, and die."_) a Mars Djinni cap, and a Jupiter Djinni sleeping mask), and then tucked himself in. Soon, he fell asleep to tiny grunts, punches and yelps of pain.

**

* * *

**

"Mia! Wake up, girl!"

Mia's eyes snapped open, and Garet stopped his finger clicking. Mia looked around at the others who were watching her, then blushed.

"Sorry guys," she said. "Hold on, how come you're all back?"

"We thought we'd better keep some extra eyes out for Isaac," Garet replied. "And from the looks of things, we'd better keep our eyes out for you as well, hmm?"

"I... that is... I didn't..."

However, before Mia could explain herself, everyone heard an enormous pair of wings flapping outside. Everyone scrambled to a nearby window to catch a glimpse of a massive flying boat sailing in the air about Vale. And guiding the boat was...

"Piers?"

Suddenly, a fierce gust caught the ship in its grasp. Piers fought bravely to regain control of his vessel, but eventually the winds were too powerful for him, and he was catapulted into the side of the house.

"Oh no," Mia squeaked. Everyone rushed outside to retrieve Piers from the roof (and after discovering Piers was still alive, Sheba swore under her breath), and after being rescued by Felix's Growth Psynergy, he stumbled wearily into the house. Everyone followed him slowly, some looking back at the trashed air vessel.

**

* * *

**

Being the calm Lemurian that he was, Piers wasn't at all phased by his near death experience, which is more than can be said for Sheba. On the contrary, she was downright furious that Piers survived. Thankfully, she refrained him bashing him over the head, and merely sat in silence. Ivan frequently gave her fleeting looks, but she never returned them, so he too sat in silence.

"So, what brings you back to Vale?" Mia asked, watching Piers take a tentative sip from his cup of tea.

"Oh, you know, just a cruise," he replied casually. He looked around. "How come you're all still awake?"

"We're on a top secret mission to create a weapon from the Golden Sun at night," Ivan said slyly, but he got a conk on the head from Sheba. "Oww!"

"Well, there is some truth to that," Jenna said, glaring at the younger Jupiter Adepts. "Mia's been asked to babysit Isaac while he's asleep, and we're here to make sure nothing goes cuckoo."

"And to make sure they enjoy themselves," Ivan remarked. ZAP! POW! In two seconds, Ivan was out like a light, and Jenna and, strangely enough, Mia, towering over him, brandishing mallets. Mia suddenly realised what she did, and sat back down to her cup of tea.

"It's not that easy you know," she said defiantly, growing slightly red. Piers raised an eyebrow. "He's been sleep-walking and sleep-casting lately."

"Okay," Piers said slowly, "I can understand the sleep-walking, but sleep-casting?" The others exchanged dark looks at each other. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," Sheba lied.

"Sleep-casting is just casting Psynergy in your sleep," Garet explained. Piers nodded slowly, still trying to grasp this new concept of casting Psynergy in your sleep.

"So, has anything else changed since I've been sailing around Weyard?" he asked. He was surprised to see Sheba smirk.

"Well, actually..." she began, but she got an elbow from Jenna, who half-pointed to Mia. Sheba nodded immediately.

"Yes?" Piers enquired.

"... Garet's developed a drinking problem," Sheba said quickly. Garet became horrified.

"Hey!"

"It's the truth, bourbon boy, live with it," Jenna said rudely, then hissed to Garet, "Shh! We're keeping Isaac and Mia's secret to ourselves for now, got it?" She nodded towards Mia, who was staring down into her cup in silence, and seemed tuned out of this conversation. Garet nodded quickly.

Sheba also turned to Mia, then back to Piers.

"We'll tell you later," she whispered. Piers nodded again, sipping his tea quietly.

**

* * *

**

_Isaac? Iiiiisac?_

He stirred in his sleep.

_Iiiiisac! Do you hear me, Isaac?_

"Huhn!" Isaac muttered.

_You... must... tell Mia... how you feel..._

"Must tell Mia," Isaac muttered again.

_No!_ shouted another voice suddenly.

_Yes, you must tell -_

_Let her stew, don't listen to this stooge._

_Keep out of this!_

_Isaac, get up!_

"Huhn!" Isaac climbed out of bed.

_Now, jump onto the table!_

_No, don't!_

_Do it!_

_Don't._

_DO IT!_

_DON'T!_

Both voices shouted to him at the same time, and Isaac ended up smashing into the table.

**

* * *

**

"Did anyone hear that?" Jenna asked suddenly, hearing the crash resulting from Isaac's mishap. Mia lifted her head off the table (she'd fallen asleep) and turned her head to look upstairs.

"Do you think Isaac's in trouble?" she asked.

"Best not risk anything," Garet said and got up out of his chair.

The others nodded in agreement, and everyone but Piers and Ivan (who was still unconscious) started upstairs.

"Will he be okay?" Piers called.

"He'll recover… eventually," Jenna called back.

"Just hurry up!" Sheba called impatiently. Piers looked at Ivan once, shrugged then started to follow the others.

**

* * *

**

Everyone arrived at the door of Isaac's bedroom, but they were all hesitant to enter.

"So, who's gonna volunteer?" Garet asked. The others shook their heads, causing Garet to groan.

"Oh, no worries," Jenna said brightly. "Let's vote on it."

Mia's stomach sank, guessing the result of this suggestion.

"Okay, I'll go first," Garet said. "Hmm... I vote for... Mia. Jenna?"

"Mia. Sheba?"

"Mia. Felix?"

"Mia. Piers?"

"... Jenna." Everyone looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Sheba lied again, "but sooner or later you'll have to catch up with the news."

Mia fumed, hearing that.

"Okay," Jenna said. "That just leaves Mia to vote."

Mia laughed nervously.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes it does."

Mia sighed heavily.

"Well, if I have to... Jenna."

Garet took an unnecessarily long time to calculate the results.

"The results are: Mia with four votes, Jenna with two." He coughed slightly. "That means... Mia, with four votes, you are the weakest link. Goodbye."

Everyone waved at her, and once again, Mia hung her head in defeat. If she weren't the cheerful, eternally optimistic and friendly Mercury Adept that she was, she probably would've punched everyone's lights out in frustration. However, the niggling feeling of getting to see Isaac again kept her from committing the act. So, she was left with no choice but to enter Isaac's bedroom for a second time.

"Good luck," Jenna said cheerfully, grateful that she wasn't in Mia's shoes.

"You'll need it," Sheba said with her trademark smirk.

"Gee, thanks," Mia said half-spiritedly, edging the door open.

**

* * *

**

_This was your fault,_ Granite said irritably, as he and Flint watched Isaac rolling on the floor in pain. Flint gave a rude smirk.

_Simple-minded fool,_ he said. _Aint nothing can hurt the Twinkie!_

_... What?_

_... Uh oh, they're coming._

Hearing the door click, the Venus Djinni vanished with a pop.

"Isaac?"

Mia's head poked into the dark bedroom. Her hand searched for a light switch, and finding one flicked it on. However, she sweatdropped when she saw the scene before her: blankets sprawled on the bed; the bedside table tipped over, with shirts, socks and underwear hanging in peculiar places; and a blonde 19-year old teenage boy rolling on the floor in agony, clutching his leg in excruciating pain.

"Isaac! What happened?"

Isaac froze in mid-roll, and Mia rushed over to him.

"Erm..." he said slowly. "... I got big owwie boo-boo on my leg."

Mia giggled, which was music to Isaac's ears (of course), and rested her hand on Isaac's leg again (**A.N.: **_"Over the GASH! ... Disgusting people. Oh, er, sorry... I'll be quiet."_). Soon, the pain evaporated from Isaac leg and he stood up, grinning awkwardly at her. Mia thought he looked adorable, grinning sheepishly like that, but of course, she wasn't about to tell him herself.

Likewise, Isaac thought Mia looked stunning in the moonlight. Her hair shone with great beauty, her eyes glistened brightly, and her dress blew in the wind (er, the window was open). Like Mia, Isaac couldn't bring up the courage to admit how he felt.

For a little while, they just stood there, smiling nervously at each other. Their lips trembled, wanting to express their feelings.

"So, um..." Isaac began nervously.

"Yes?" Mia said, growing a coy smile. Isaac's heart leapt, and his voice became stuck in his throat.

"I want to tell you something... something very important."

"I'm glad you said that, because I have something to tell you as well."

"Best you go first, then."

"No, you go."

"Mia..."

"Isaac..."

"I..." they began at the same time, but a deafening scream rang from behind the door, and they were forced to stop in mid-sentence.

"You'd better go see what's going on," Isaac said, looking towards the door apprehensively.

"Are... are you sure?" Mia asked, worried that Isaac might injure himself again.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Isaac said, flashing Mia a confident smile. Mia started to feel more relaxed, but she remained concerned about Isaac's health. Suddenly, a lightbulb lip up above Mia's head.

"Do you mind getting back into bed?" she asked. Isaac looked at her strangely, but nodded obligingly and tucked himself back into bed.

"Okay, this won't hurt," Mia said soothingly. Isaac gave her another confident smile, giving Mia the confirmation to continue. Seeing this, she closed her eyes and once again began to glow. Soon, a purple mist started to surround Isaac. His eyes became heavy, his mind cloudy, and soon he was sleeping peacefully. Mia observed the results and gave a small smile.

"Great, it works," she said to herself. She looked at Isaac, who was sleeping like a baby, and her smile grew wider. "Sweet dreams, my love... I just hope you feel the same way."

A soft thud came from the other side of the door, and Mia snapped back into reality. Her face turned into an agitated look, and she walked to the door. However, before she turned off the light she looked at Isaac again and beamed.

"If only you knew how special you are to me," she said quietly. Turning back to the door, she resumed her look and flicked off the light. Closing the door behind her, her face was that of utter destruction.

**

* * *

**

"Mia's coming!" Sheba whispered urgently. Everybody's stomaches sank imagining Mia's wrath.

"What'll we do?" Jenna asked desperately. No one had time to answer, however, because a blue flash of fury burst through the door. In three seconds, everyone but Garet (who's been knocked out by Jenna) and Ivan (who STILL seemed to be downstairs) had felt Mia's outrage, and were lying on the ground unconscious, with swivelled eyes.

"Hmph! No one messes with a love struck Mercury Adept!" Mia said huffily, then she realised what she said and blushed brightly. Garet managed to recover, and gingerly got up. He looked from an unconscious band of Adepts to a disgruntled Mia and sweatdropped.

"Should I even -"

"Make another sound, and you're joining them in Lalaland!"

"Er, okay."

At that moment, Ivan (who'd FINALLY recovered) crept upstairs. He too observed the results of Mia's anger, and looked ready to bolt back downstairs with Garet, but Mia stood in their way.

"Don't move!" she commanded. Garet and Ivan froze, and then scuttled into a corner. Mia grunted again and went downstairs to make coffee.

"Do you have a clue what's going on?" Ivan asked timidly. Garet shook his head slowly, rubbing a bump on his forehead where Jenna had conked him on the head.

**

* * *

**

**Lord Cynic:** (_Laughs_) ""Conked over the head"... I love saying that."

**Mini Isaac:** "Hey! That wasn't fair!"

**Lord Cynic:** "Lighten up, Lover Boy. You'll get your pressie soon enough."

_Mini Isaac and Mini Mia look at each other, then turn away, blushing furiously. Everyone watches with amusement._

**Mini Garet:** "Heh heh..."

**Lord Cynic** / **Mini Garet:** (_at the same time_) "Suckers."

**Mini Jenna:** "Oh, NO! They've become one!"


	7. Awkward Confrontations

_Lord Cynic escapes the Mudshippers and collapses onto his bed._

_Lord Cynic:_ "Huff... puff... man!... they're tough... huff..."

_The Mini's look down at him._

**Mini Garet:** "Have fun?"

**Lord Cynic: **(_growls)_ "Isaac and Mia, this is your fault."

**Mini Isaac:** "!"

**Mini Mia:** "?"

**Lord Cynic:** "If you two didn't like each other, I never would've written the fanfics and gotten everyone bubbled up... then I wouldn't have fame... popularity... reviews... okay, I guess I can live with the mobs."

**Mini's:** (_sweatdrops)_

**Lord Cynic:** (_Sits up_) "Okay, let's get back to work."

** hr **

**Mini Garet:** "Cyno doesn't own Golden Sun. If he did, I think I would've gotten a haircut... (_sweatdrops)_ That is definitely a good thing... thank you Camelot for NOT giving him any rights."

** hr **

Chapter 8 - Awkward Confrontations, aka "Isaac and Mia, sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

It was one o'clock in the afternoon in the afternoon before Isaac woke up the next day. Cursing to himself, he got dressed and progressed downstairs.

"Oh, um, hello," he said awkwardly, finding everyone in the TV room.

"Hi, Isaac!" Mia said brightly. Everyone else exchanged dark looks, and clutched ice packs to their heads tightly.

"'Bout time you woke up," Felix grunted. "We thought we needed to get someone to wake you up."

"How come you've all got ice packs?" Isaac asked. All eyes were on Mia, who simple smiled back at them all innocently. They then turned back to Isaac, who was still waiting for an answer.

"Er... headache," Ivan grumbled. Isaac raised an eyebrow.

"All of you?"

"Hungry, Isaac?" Mia asked, saving everyone from explaining. Isaac turned to her.

"Uh... okay, yeah."

"Okay, I'll go make some toast."

Mia scampered off eagerly into the kitchen, leaving a group of stunned teenage Adepts in the TV room, mouths slightly open.

"Gee, never knew your girlfriend could have so many mood swings," Ivan remarked. Isaac flushed, but then he became suspicious.

"What do you mean, "mood swings"?" he asked. Sheba stomped on Ivan's foot, causing him to wince.

"Er, nothing," Jenna said quickly. Isaac raised an eyebrow again, but at that moment, Mia came skipping in (well, not literally) with a plate of buttered toast.

"Here you go," she said brightly, setting the plate down on the table. Everyone stared at it: A sheer mountain of toast, at least 20 slices high. As everyone stared, a reporter appeared on the TV.

"This is Mt. Buttered Toast, a massive monster of a meal. 20 slices high, it reaches up to 9 feet high, and spans at least 20 metres wide. If you choose to scale this momma, be warned: It'll spit YOU out like a bit of food between your teeth."

Isaac stared up at Mia, who was smiling in anticipation.

"Er, thank you very much," he said. Mia beamed.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need me," she said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Isaac watched her leave, then turned back to Mt. Buttered Toast. His eyes bulged.

"Um... could you guys help me eat this?" he asked timidly. He became desperate when everyone shook his and her heads. "Please? I can't eat this by myself!"

"Sorry pal," Garet said with a slight smirk. "I'm afraid you're on your own with this one."

Isaac's stomach sank, and with grief, he picked up the first slice of toast.

** hr **

The guys walked wearily along the streets of Vale, with Isaac leading the way. He was clutching a bulging stomach - after he eventually ate Mt. Buttered Toast, Mia had insisted that he drink a whole vat of orange drink, or as the others had dubbed it, Lake Fanta (**A.N.: **_"Yeah, I know they don't have Fanta. Bear with me, will you?"_). As a result, Isaac's stomach had to do an afternoon shift to digest the food.

** hr **

(**Inside Isaac's stomach**)

"Mmf! Must... digest..." the stomach grunted, pumping endlessly to let the toast proceed.

"We are free! Onward, to the lower intestine!" they cheered. The stomach's eyes bulged.

"No, not there!" he shouted, but it was too late. The toast became digested, it passed through the lower intestine, and became, cough, natural (but perhaps nuclear) gas.

** hr **

Censored 

"Whoa, dude!" Garet said, waving his hand about. "Warn us next time!"

"Sorry..." Isaac said. "Man, my stomach hurts."

Felix, Garet and Ivan sniggered, making Isaac frown despite his pain - and the gas.

"Why didn't you just refuse the food, then?" Piers asked (the boat couldn't be wedged from the house yet, so he stayed for a while, much to Sheba's dismay).

"Yeah, good point," Ivan said.

"Hey, hey!" Isaac said, as the others started laughing. "You don't want to upset Mia... she's a hurricane if you get her angry."

The others, Piers included, looked at each other, and then collapsed on the ground with laughter. Isaac fumed as he watched them roll on the ground, laughing helplessly.

It took at least five minutes for the guys to calm down. As Ivan wiped away a tear of laughter, Isaac started tapping his foot impatiently.

"Are we quite done?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Piers sighed, "but I find that highly difficult to believe."

"Yeah," Garet agreed. "We all know that Jenna is a living volcano, but Mia? She's about as harmless as a Vermin."

"So then," Isaac said thoughtfully, "just what happened when Mia left my room last night?"

Everyone suddenly grew silent. For a while, no one said anything, and Isaac frequently glanced between his dumbstruck male Adept buddies.

Eventually, Garet cleared his throat.

"C'mon," he said, "We need to go to the market."

Ivan, Felix and Piers nodded, then they started to follow Garet.

"Guys? Guys?" Isaac hurried after them, but he never got an answer.

** hr **

The girls - excluding Dora (who always seemed to be away) - were still cleaning dishes while the guys were away.

"I still can't believe Isaac managed to eat all the toast," Sheba said, generally surprised. Mia smiled.

"A person's gotta eat to make himself really strong," she said.

"Yeah, especially if you want him to show off his rippling muscles to you later," Sheba pointed out; making Mia blush while Jenna sniggered.

"It's not like that," Mia said, beet-red and shaking his head.

"Suuure it's not," Sheba said sarcastically. "Who knows? Maybe he's at a gym right now, buffing himself up for you."

"Where'd they go, anyway?" Jenna asked, unintentionally changing the subject.

"Um... Isaac said something about going to the market," Mia said. Sheba raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised he could say anything after that meal," she said.

"There, the last plate," Jenna said, placing it carefully in the cabinet. "Let's go and look for them, in case they've gotten into trouble."

"Knowing them, they've probably gone and tried to test their skills in some bogus game," Sheba said disgustedly.

"Er... this sounds like deja vu," Mia muttered, hitching her bag over her shoulder. They left the house in a somewhat apathetic mood, leaving the house sparkling clean - until mealtime, or when the boys returned, whichever came first.

** hr **

"Hello, Mum."

"Hello, dear."

Nothing more was, nor needed to be, said between Dora, who was again checking out the jewellery stalls, and Isaac, who walked on ahead with the other guys.

"Geez, you and your mother don't say much," Piers said. Isaac shrugged, but started looking pensive.

"Y'know, for the past two months she's been talking about marriages in a distant voice," he said.

"Really?" Garet remarked.

"Anything else?" Ivan asked, intrigued.

"Well actually, yes there -" Isaac stopped. "Hang on, why do you need to know?"

"Oh, I dunno," Ivan said hazily, "we might need blackmail to use again you later."

Garet laughed rudely, and even Piers smiled sheepishly. Felix didn't say a word, choosing to keep his comments to himself.

"Gee, some friends you guys are," Isaac muttered.

"What're we doing here, anyway?" Piers asked. Garet shrugged.

"I dunno, ask Isaac. It was his idea."

"I'm looking for something... something special to give to someone," Isaac mumbled, twiddling his thumbs and looking down at the ground.

"Mmm? Would this someone have blue eyes, blue hair, be a Mercury Adept and have a name starting with 'M'?" Ivan sniggered. Isaac became mortified.

"No!... it's... it's for..." He became quiet for a moment, and he shifted his feet nervously. "Um... well... you won't laugh when I tell you something?"

"No, I guess not," Garet said.

"Okay." Isaac took a deep breath. "I... have been looking for a present to give to Mia. I want to tell her that I... that I love her."

Whatever reaction Isaac expected, it wasn't what he got. Instead of jaws crashing to the ground, Garet and Co. simply stared back at him. Only Piers looked mildly surprised.

"So, you finally admit it," Ivan said finally.

"Yes, I... eh?"

Garet, Ivan and Felix shook their heads in pity.

"Geez, man," Garet said. "You make it as if it's all new to us."

"Well, I only expected Felix to know," Isaac said, making a suspicious face. He turned to Felix. "Did you tell them anything?"

Felix shook his head in disgust.

"He didn't tell us anything," Ivan said, insulted. "Honestly, it wasn't as if it was difficult to see."

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.

"You're really asking that?" Garet asked in amazement. Isaac nodded innocently, and Garet gave a loud and heavy sigh. "We saw the way you looked at Mia during battles, how you constantly daydreamed about her - and when we woke you up you bashed our heads in, how your eyes light up when she smiles -"

"Knock it off," Ivan groaned, clutching his stomach. "You're making me sick."

"The point is," Garet continued, ignoring Ivan's complaining, "is that it was impossible not to notice. We've known since we met her in Imil."

"I... that is... but I..." Isaac stammered, but he stopped protesting and hung his head. "I guess there's no point in denying it any longer."

"That's right," Garet said, and then in a spooky voice, "We know what you ate last Tuesday."

"That's not funny," Isaac said, making another irritated face. "Besides, there's just one problem."

"Wait, lemme guess," Piers piped up, "she doesn't know how you feel, right?"

"That's... right," Isaac said.

"I must say," Garet said, "you catch on quickly. I'm impressed."

"Thanks," Piers said, beaming.

"Anyway," Isaac said impatiently, "you see my dilemma. But I'm hoping I can capture her heart with this..."

He picked up a pendant from a display. It featured a sparkling Mercury Djinn, and, when Isaac flipped it open it played a beautiful melody. Inside were spaces for two photos, so Isaac dug into his pockets.

"Whatcha looking for?" Ivan asked, but he didn't have long to wait, because Isaac pulled out a photo - and Bane.

_Zzzz... Oy! What's the big idea?_

"Oh, sorry," Isaac said, placing Bane pack into his pocket. He turned back to the pendant and held out the photo: Isaac on the aerie of the Venus Lighthouse, holding his Gaia Blade.

"Nice shot," Garet said, looking over Isaac's shoulder at the photo. "How'd you manage to take it?"

"Er..." To be honest, Isaac had no idea how he'd managed to take a photo of himself from the top of Venus Lighthouse. He looked back at Garet, who was still waiting for an answer.

"Well?"

"Hey!" Isaac said suddenly, making everyone (including Felix) jump. "Garet, ol' buddy, how would you like to help me with something?"

"Eh?" Garet looked at Ivan, Felix and Piers, who shrugged back plainly. "What did you have in mind?"

"I need you to - EEP!"

Isaac suddenly dove behind the counter, and the others spun around to Jenna, Sheba and Mia about 20 metres away at a perfume counter.

** hr **

"Why are we even here?" Sheba asked, as the girls strolled around.

"We're looking for Isaac and the others," Mia replied.

"Why?" Jenna asked, frowning.

"Ohhh, I get it," Sheba said, smirking.

Mia looked at Sheba then sweatdropped.

"What are you thinking?"

"You wanna tell Isaac how you feel," Sheba taunted, then in a sing-song voice, "Mia and Isaac sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"Please, be quiet!" Mia whispered, as passers-by glanced at the girls strangely. "Besides, I can't tell him that!"

"Why not?" Jenna asked. "It can't be that hard to say three simple words."

"That's what I thought," Mia said, and then she lowered her voice. "I've been watching TV talk shows lately."

"Why?" Sheba asked, pulling a disgusted face. Mia frowned at her.

"It's better than watching violent movies about werewolves and voodoo chickens," she said. Sheba snorted a laugh, and then Mia continued. "Recently, the topics have been about couples and their dreaded secrets."

"Heh, heh, you've been those types of shows, have you?" Sheba asked, as she turned to Jenna. Jenna shook her head, so Sheba grew silent again.

"Not exactly," Mia said. "I find their solutions to problems rather unorthodox. No, I watch Golden Gab myself... but that's not the point. I've been watching the disputes the couples have, mainly about secrets they've kept from each other for years. They got me thinking about something?"

"What?" Jenna and Sheba chorused.

"Well," Mia started slowly, "what if I confessed my feelings to Isaac? What would he say?"

"What? What would he say?" Jenna asked.

"That's just it," Mia said quietly. "I don't know. What if he rejected me? What if he chewed me up and spat me out like a wad of bubblegum?"

"You don't know that he'd do that," Jenna said reasonably.

"That's right... I don't know," Mia said. Her eyes darted around, and then when she spotted something they lit up. "But maybe that might help."

Without warning, she darted to an armoury display a few metres away. Jenna and Sheba watched after her, and then Jenna spotted Garet and the others off at one of the other displays. She nudged Sheba and pointed, and then they both proceeded to the guys.

** hr **

"Looks like they spotted us," Garet said, pointing towards Jenna and Sheba.

Ivan took one glance at them, then asked, "Hold on, where's Mia?"

Felix shrugged.

"I dunno, but Isaac will be glad, 'ey bud?... Isaac?"

Everyone spun around to the jewellery counter to find Isaac gone. They started scratching their heads in confusion as Jenna and Sheba approached them.

"Hey, guys," Jenna said cheerfully.

"Oh, hey," Garet said absent-mindedly, still looking around in an attempt to find Isaac. Jenna raised an eyebrow and voiced the question everyone was thinking.

"Where's Isaac?"

A tall guy in red and white striped clothing appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm right here."

Everyone else made nervous faces.

"We're looking for Isaac, not Wally. Get outta here," Sheba said.

"Okie dokie."

Wally has left the building.

After the initial surprise following that, a long, uncomfortable silence followed.

"We... have no idea where Isaac went," Piers said finally.

"It's a good thing Mia's not here either," Jenna said with a sigh of relief. "She'd probably do nuts if -"

"Well, what do you know?" Ivan remarked. "If Isaac were here, he'd be relieved. But speaking of Isaac, I guess we'd better go and look for him."

"Unless he's gone looking for Mia," Garet added. Everyone exchanged dark looks, then they split into two groups - Garet, Ivan and Piers went searching for Isaac; and Jenna and Sheba went to find Mia.

** hr **

"Thank you very much," Mia said, handing the armoury salesman the money. She looked at her purchase: a leather sheath encrusted in beautiful jewels. At the top was space for someone's name, Mia hoped she'd be seeing Isaac's name on it if he accept the gift.

Suddenly, a loud crash brought Mia back to reality, and she spun around to find Isaac lying on the ground among various types of armour.

"I'm... I'm so sorry!" he stammered, picking himself up. In a flash, he cleared up the mess he made. "I'll be out of your way," he said, nodding at the bewildered salesman as he backed away from the display.

He didn't notice Mia until it was too late, and he collided with her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I... Mia!"

Isaac's heart nearly committed a kamikazi attack, and Isaac clutched it in shock. Mia, picking herself up, luckily didn't notice Isaac's reaction. She tucked the sheath into her robes as Isaac started to regain her composure.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mia, I didn't mean for that to happen, I -"

"Isaac, that's okay," Mia said breathlessly, smiling. "It was just an accident."

"It's just... I have something to give you," Isaac said, reaching into his pocket.

"Oh, I have something for you too," Mia said, reaching into her robes.

As they handed each other their gifts, a feeling of comfort and tranquillity passed through them. Their hands touched, and clouds in the sky scattered. Their minds melded into one, their souls bound together, their bodies momentarily combined, their -

"There you are!"

"**_(Censored)_**!"

Isaac swore badly as almost on cue the two groups found the two lovebirds, and once again, the fantasyland was crushed. Mia looked at Isaac in shock, then they turned to see Jenna, Sheba, Garet, Ivan, Felix and Piers running towards them.

"Guess I'll see you around," Isaac said.

"Yeah, I guess," Mia said gloomily, and they walked back to their respective groups.

** hr **

"Phew, we found you," Garet said, catching his breath. "We thought you'd gotten yourself into trouble."

"No," Isaac said bluntly.

"Hey, nice piece of accessory," Ivan said, pointing to Mia's gift that Isaac had slung over his shoulder. Isaac turned to look at it and smiled.

"Thanks, Mia gave it to me."

"Oh," everyone said slowly.

"I guess Mia has her gift, then?" Isaac asked. Isaac nodded.

"I thought you were gonna wait," Piers said. Isaac shrugged.

"I guess there was no point in being afraid of giving Mia a tiny gift," he said. "And compared to admitting to her how I feel about her, it was nothing at all."

"So, you haven't yet?" Garet asked.

"No," Isaac said, looking down at the ground. "And I'm running out of ways..."

** hr **

"Wow, that's beautiful!"

Mia had shown Jenna and Sheba the pendant, and they were all crowded in front of it.

"Open it up, see what's inside," Jenna urged, and Mia obliged and opened up the pendant. Suddenly, music started, and the girls closed their eyes to listen to the relaxing melody.

"Now this is beautiful," Mia sighed. The others nodded in agreement, and for a few minutes they just listened to the soft tunes.

"Is there anything else?" Sheba asked eventually, and their eyes popped open. Mia looked to the compartments and flipped them open. The first thing their saw was the photo of Isaac.

"Wow," Sheba said. "Interesting pose. Any idea of how he managed to take the photo?"

Mia and Jenna shook their heads.

"Not even I know how he took that photo," Mia said, shaking her head. But when she thought no one was looking, she smiled to herself.


	8. Follow the Leader

**Lord Cynic:** "Da, da, da, da, da, daaa, da, da, da, da, da, da, hey! Da, da, da, da, da, daaa, da da, da, da, da, da, hey!"

**Mini Garet:** "Cynic, just what in Mt. Aleph's name are you doing?"

**Lord Cynic:** "Da, da, da, da - huh? Oh, just trying out this Russian dance they do..."

**Mini Jenna:** "That's scary..."

_Camera switches to Mini Isaac and Mini Mia, who are doing the tango._

**Mini Ivan:** "That's even creepier..."

_Camera switches again to Lord Cynic, who is now doing the Macarena._

**Mini Sheba:** "... You've been corrected."

**Mini Ivan:** (_shaking his head_) "So I have..."

**Lord Cynic:** "Nutbush city limits! Da na, na, na, na, na..."

**Minis, except Isaac and Mia:** "Please, STOP!"

**Lord Cynic:** "Hmph... fine..."

**Mini Ivan:** "Phew... you don't wanna scare readers away, do you?"

**Lord Cynic:** "Nah, guess not. Oh, and as for lemons, thanks for the heads up."

_All the Mini's sweatdrop._

**Lord Cynic: **"No worries, I'm not about to write one. I COULD, but I don't. Let's just say my hormones got lost in the mail..."

**Mini Jenna: **"We did NOT want to know that..."

**Mini Garet: **(_scribbling_) "Lost... in... the... mail..."

**Mini Jenna:** "?"

**Mini Garet:** "Blackmail."

**Lord Cynic:** (_Growls_)

**

* * *

**

**Mini Sheba:** "Golden Sun doesn't belong to this loser. It belongs to Camelot Soft. Praise the... Golden Sun that a talented bunch of guys made this game."

**Lord Cynic:** "Yeah, otherwise you wouldn't exist, and I'd be back to writing AAML Pokemon fanfics about falling sheep and zombie bananas."

**Mini Ivan:** "Shuddup."

**Lord Cynic: **(_Groundskeeper Willie voice_) "Ack, ingrates."

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 9 - Follow the leader**_

The girls returned to Isaac's house later that evening. When Mia, Jenna and Sheba walked in the door, they found Garet, Ivan and Felix sitting around watching TV. Piers was in the kitchen eating an apple, and he walked back into the TV to find the happy people.

"Hey, you're back," he said cheerfully.

"Hey," Jenna and Sheba replied apathetically.

Mia looked around, expecting to see Isaac hanging around somewhere. Disappointed, she turned back to the group.

"Where did Isaac go?"

"He's outside," Ivan said. "Said he had to do some training."

"What for?" Sheba asked. "There's nothing to train for. Our journey ended months ago."

"Yeah, we know," Ivan replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Still, that's his excuse."

"He has a million excuses for everything," Garet said, shaking his head. "Where ya going, Mia?"

"After hearing of Isaac's location, Mia had started to walk to the door.

"Oh, I'm just going out," she said. "I forgot to do something."

She left the house before anyone could ask her any more questions, and everyone stared after her, bewildered.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Garet asked the others. They stared at each other, and then nodded simultaneously.

"I reckon so, G man," Sheba said.

"Shall we?" Jenna asked. Everyone nodded again, and they got up and left the door after Mia.

**

* * *

**

"Hiiii-yah!"

Isaac lunged at the tree stump and struck it with immense force. Although he couldn't slice it, he hit it with enough power to shake it violently.

After a few more strikes, Isaac put down his sword and mopped his sweating brow.

"Whew! That was tough!"

He mopped his brow once more, then got out a comb and brushed his hair egotistically. Looking around, he put away his comb and cloth, and then picked up his Gaia Blade.

"Okay, let's try this again... hee-yah - whoop!"

He added too much energy to his attack and ended up overbalancing, falling backwards into another tree. After recovering, he picked himself up and looked around apprehensively, hoping that no one was watching. Finding no one around, he picked up his sword again and got to work.

**

* * *

**

Mia explored the streets of the town, desperate to locate Isaac. She wandered through the deserted marketplace, and as owns hooted and flew overhead, she started to think aloud to herself.

"Maybe he does like me. I mean, this gift (She took out her pendant and held it) has to mean something special if he gave it to me face-to-face..."

She opened the pendant and stared at Isaac's photo, and the grin on Isaac's face managed to melt Mia's heart once again. Sitting down, she stared at the photo and listened to the melody delving into her own world.

**

* * *

**

"Heeee-yaaaaaaaah!"

A distant shout awoke Mia from her stupor, and she woke up suddenly.

"Isaac?"

She listened intently for another shout, and was rewarded with a loud grunt and a yelp of pain.

"Isaac!"

She got up in a flash and bolted in the direction of Isaac's voice.

Behind her, Garet and Co. struggled to keep up.

"Man! I never knew she could run fast!" Felix grunted.

"You should've seen her run from a spider in the Kolima forest," Garet breathed.

"Yeah," Ivan agreed. "She took one look at it and bolted back to the exit."

"Isaac had to go and persuade her to come back," Garet said, and everyone but Piers smirked.

"He had to hold her hand while we explored the forest the first time," Garet said. "Although she didn't complain about that, you couldn't imagine the look on her face when we were told to get the Hermes Water from Mercury Lighthouse and come back."

Everyone, Piers included, started to laugh, but they stopped immediately when they saw Mia up ahead.

"Shh!" Garet whispered, and everyone hushed and hid behind some bushes.

Up ahead, Mia had found Isaac and was crouching behind a tree stump, so that she could watch him in secret.

**

* * *

**

"Huff... puff... once more..."

Isaac took a few minutes to regain his strength, then he lunged at the tree stump again.

"Eiiii - whoa!" Isaac mistimed his approach, and when he slammed his sword into the stump it got jammed. "Stupid thing!"

He clasped his hands together, then breathed out slowly and grasped his sword with both hands. Grunting, panting, sweating and cursing obscenely, he tugged desperately at the handle. Tugging with all his might wasn't enough, however. Instead, he tugged too hard and fell backwards, rolling into another tree.

"... Mamma mia. This-a is not-a going too well..." he said, eyes swivelling.

Up above, Mia giggled uncontrollably at Isaac's mishap, and behind her, the others had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing. Isaac still heard this, and he stood up suddenly and looked up to find sources of the noise. Mia gasped inaudibly and crouched lower behind the tree stump, and this was Garet and Co.'s cue to hide as well. Trying not to make too much noise so that they didn't alert Isaac or Mia, they scrambled behind their hiding spots, hoping no one would notice them.

Back down below, Isaac shook his head and turned away, then eventually pulled free his weapon.

"I must be losing my mind," he muttered. "I could swear I heard laughter."

He looked up again to be sure, and that's when he caught sight of Mia's forehead, with her hair band protruding over the top of her tree stump. He stared at it for a few seconds, and then he shook his head and turned away again.

"Now I'm hallucinating," he muttered. "That can't have been Mia..."

He picked up his Gaia Blade again and wiped his sweating brow with his arm. Taking a few deep breaths, he readied himself.

"Right... 3... 2... 1... yee-haaaa -"

Grumble 

Isaac fell down in stupidity as his stomach began growling.

"Oh yeah, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast... lunch... whatever."

He got up, dusted himself off and slid his Gaia Blade into his new sheath. He looked around again first, and then crept into the darkness of the woods.

"Uh oh," Mia squeaked. She stood up from her hiding spot and sped away to the house. Behind her, Garet and Co. started to panic.

"What do we do?" Jenna cried, dancing on the spot.

"Silence!" Garet commanded. Immediately everyone grew silent. "It's no problem... it's no problem."

"So then," Sheba said impatiently, "what do we do?"

"Er..." Garet was dumbfounded, and everyone fell down in stupidity.

"Never get guys to solve your problems," Jenna muttered. Sheba smirked snidely, while Garet, Ivan, Felix and Piers scowled.

"Any smart ideas then, Sherlock?" Ivan said irritably.

"Naturally," Jenna replied, and she started to pace.

"Er, guys -" Piers began.

"It's simple, really," Jenna continued.

"Guys?"

"All we have to do," Jenna resumed, ending her pacing, "is return to Isaac's house casually and make up an excuse for being out."

This took a while to sink, in, then everyone but Jenna fell down in stupidity again.

"Nice idea, Einstein," Garet growled, getting up. "Even I could've thought of that!"

"Guys?" Piers began again.

"Why didn't you?" Jenna asked.

"Er..."

"Guys?"

"WHAT!" everyone shouted.

"... Too late."

Piers pointed in front of them. Mia and Isaac had returned from the house (And Mia had managed to snake her way out of a lengthy explanation with a rather unorthodox excuse). Mia was back behind her tree stump, and Isaac was back in front of his. Miraculously, neither had noticed the quarrelling group of Adepts, and Garet and Co. sighed in relief, before covering their mouths.

"That was… too close," Ivan whispered.

"Yeah," Garet agreed. "We'll have to be more careful this time."

Everyone murmured in agreement, then they huddled behind/inside their hiding spots to watch.

**

* * *

**

"Phew, that was close," Mia sighed, wiping her forehead with a cloth in relief. She then chuckled to herself. "Fancy Isaac scoffing a bowl of soup, an entire tub of chop chip ice cream AND seven glasses of orange juice in one go… with my help," she added cheekily, sighing happily to herself again before nestling behind her tree stump to watch Isaac's antics.

**

* * *

**

"Man, I'm stuffed," Isaac said. "Dunno why Mia needed to research different types of fungi though… I hope she's not turning into Kraden." He suddenly let out an enormous belch. "Excuse me." He turned red as he whipped around to check that no one was watching again. "Okay, here we go," he said finally, cracking his knuckles.

His watch beeped.

"Aw, man!"

Isaac sighed heavily, slid his Gaia Blade back into his sheath, and trudged towards the house wearily.

**

* * *

**

"Oh boy," Mia said, and she sped towards the house again. This left the remaining clan of bewildered Adepts.

"Okay, let's go," Ivan said, and everyone started trailing back to Isaac's house.

**

* * *

**

Isaac stumbled into the house and collapsed onto an armchair.

"So... exhausted..." he gasped, then he jumped and turned around as the front door creaked open. "Who goes there?" No answer. "Who dares invade upon thy territory, privacy and safety, and speaks not of their name to me?" Still no answer. "Speak now and answer me, or I'll strike upon thee with thy trusted blade!... ANSWER ME!"

Mia froze on the spot, stunned by Isaac's sudden demand.

"Um... it is I, Mia. I ask of forgiveness from thee, and apologise for disturbing one's peace."

Isaac's heart leapt, not expecting to find it was Mia who had entered. He managed to regain his composure and spoke again, albeit with a slight croak in his voice.

"Apology accepted. Please, approach and explain your case."

Mia hesitated, then entered the TV room and approached the back of the couch.

"Now, my child," Isaac said solemnly, "what troubles you so?"

"W-What do you mean?" Mia stammered, turning red. Isaac grinned slightly, and although she couldn't see it, her face became a sparkling ruby - in colour at least.

Isaac couldn't see this either, but he knew what she was thinking and continued. "Now, now. I am not here to make one self-conscious and worried. However -" He grinned widely, and Mia chose the wrong moment to actually approach him face-to-face, "- I must say the red in your cheeks suits you perfectly."

Isaac continued to grin on the look on Mia's face, which had become the reddest in existence (Which is that? Maroon, ruby, tomato?...). He even chuckled slightly in amusement, and this made it almost impossible for Mia to respond.

"I, uh... um... I just... didn't mean... I uh..."

Isaac chuckled again and sat up, holding up his hand to the still-stammering Mia.

"Fear not," he said. He lifted Mia's chin up so that they could look directly at each other.

"I just..."

Isaac shook his head. "Why do you fret so?" He placed a finger on Mia's lips to silence her, then the two of them just looked at each other.

Once again, their faces grew closer to each other. Isaac became intoxicated in Mia's perfume, and Mia thought she was looking into crystal mirrors - the reflection she got from Isaac's eyes was so bright that no amount of darkness could tamper with it.

_This is it,_ she thought to herself. _My dreams are about to come true at last. I wonder if anyone but Sheba and Jenna knows... oh boy, we'd have some explaining to do..._

_I can't believe it,_ Isaac thought to himself. _I'm finally going to admit my feelings to in the best way possible. Gee, I'm hungry... I wonder if there's any chips that Mum's hiding in the kitchen..._

After practically an eternity (About 36 seconds in our time), Isaac and Mia were once again nose-to-nose. _Almost there, _they told themselves, _until I've admitted my love at last._

Suddenly, Garet and Co. barged into the house, out of breath and puffing.

**

* * *

**

Isaac and Mia broke away, and then stormed towards Lord Cynic's dressing room.

"I'm sorry mama, I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I'm cleaning out my closet..." Lord Cynic sang into an imaginary microphone. He was about to sing, "The Real Slim Shady," when Isaac and Mia crashed in (And it's probably a good thing... you don't wanna hear Cyn singing... bad...).

"What's the meaning of this!" Mia raged, spraying spit on Cynic.

"What do you mean?"

"We mean," Isaac said, frowning, "this constant delay between us finally admitting our love!"

Lord Cynic suddenly became white and covered Isaac and Mia's mouths with one hand each.

"Don't give away the ending! Argh, youth... never grateful..."

Isaac and Mia looked at each other, then when Cynic released his hands they backed out of the room slowly, leaving Cynic to his 'singing'.

**

* * *

**

"Are you ready yet?" Garet asked impatiently as Isaac and Mia returned.

"Er... yeah..." Isaac said slowly. He and Mia got back into position, and the story continues... now!... now!... NOW!... NOW! NOW, NOW, NOW, NOW, NO - OWW!

**

* * *

**

Isaac and Mia nearly choked, and they quickly pulled away from each other (Fat lot getting into position did, then... stupid Cynic). Then, Isaac's face became a vision of darkness: his eyes narrowed and became red, his brows furrowed, his spiky blonde hair became straight and silver (The horror?), and he seemed to sub-consciously emit a dark flame around him.

When everyone caught sight of 'Evil Isaac' (**A.N.: **_"I probably need a better name"_), Mia scuttled behind the TV, and the others immediately retreated as far away as possible. However, they couldn't escape from this blonde - er, silver terror, and he started walking towards the retreating Adepts.

"Now, now, Isaac," Ivan stuttered nervously. "Let's not become hasty..."

"Y-Yeah," Garet stammered, but his eyes widened when Isaac formed a Ragnarok with his Psynergy. "No, no... put that down, Isaac..."

"Don't hurt us!" Jenna squealed. Isaac chuckled malevolently, and the others sweatdropped when a wide, sinister smirk spread across his face.

"I'm not gonna kill you..." he said slowly.

"Phew," Piers said, sighing in relief. Garet, Ivan, Jenna and Sheba (who had become mysteriously silent all of a sudden) looked at him strangely. "What?"

They shook their heads, and Piers and Felix turned to Isaac, who was still brandishing his Ragnarok.

"No," Isaac said, shaking his head. "Instead, I'll send you all to Lalaland (**A.N.: **_"I'm one for originality, aren't I?... aren't I?"_)..."

Remembering that she herself had said that once before, Mia giggled to herself. Everyone, including Isaac, turned to look at her, or rather the TV and seeing all the staring faces (somehow) she turned scarlet.

"Sorry... don't mind me..." she mumbled, turning around again.

As Mia dropped her gaze to the floor, Isaac turned to face the others, who stopped chortling to themselves.

"What are you going to do?" Jenna asked as Isaac started to walk towards them again.

"Now to worry," he said calmly, but no one relaxed because he was still holding his Ragnarok at the ready. "This won't hurt - much."

And before anyone could speak, he had launched his attack on his unfortunate friends. They lay on the floor, unconscious, as Isaac's hair began to turn blonde again. He made his Ragnarok disappear, and then turned to the TV - but Mia had slithered behind another armchair.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Isaac sang teasingly, searching around the room. Mia scrunched herself into a ball behind the chair, hoping Isaac wouldn't her and glad he couldn't read minds.

"Come out Mia... I promise I won't hurt you..."

As Isaac passed Mia's hiding spot without seeing her, Mia gave an inaudible sigh of relief. Eventually Isaac gave up and shrugged.

"Oh well. I'll be going to bed. Goodnight."

He made to ascend the stairs, but stopped on the bottom step. Instead of walking up, he stood on the bottom step and simply stomped on that step, imitating walking sounds.

As Isaac faked the steps, Mia crept out of her hiding spot and proceeded to the staircase - where she met the waiting Isaac, who was smiling at her malevolently.

"Oh!" Mia squeaked. "I was just... I thought... you were... er..."

Isaac simply shook his head again and changed his smile to a kinder, saner one. Mia became very spooked.

"Okay, it's late, and I'm going to bed. Oh, and you might wanna revive the others." Isaac looked at the crumpled bunch and added, "In your own time."

Mia sweatdropped, but she bowed goodnight and watched Isaac climb the stairs to his bedroom. However, instead of reviving her fallen colleagues, she let them be.

"Serves them right," she said with a rare smirk.


	9. Night Three

**Lord Cynic:** "Mooo... moooooo!"

**Mini Garet:** "?"

**Mini Isaac:** "Too much grass."

**Mini Garet:** "Oh..."

**Mini Sheba:** "Meeeowwww!"

**Mini Ivan:** "Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!"

**Mini Garet:** "Uh... should I -"

**Mini Isaac:** "DON'T ask."

**

* * *

**

**Mini Jenna:** "... I'm the only sane one (**Isaac**/**Garet**/**Mia**: "Hey!") Hmmph.. first of all, Garet, you were never sane. Second, Isaac and Mia, you two are the soppiest lovebirds I've ever seen. Anyway, Golden Sun is free from Cynic and his evil potato wedge-eating grasp... be thankful for that at least."

**

* * *

**

**_Chapter 10: Night Three_**

"Uh... oww..."

Ivan rubbed his head as he woke up, and then stared around at the others. A grin spreading across his face, he got up and crept away from the other dozing Adepts - or tried to. As soon as he managed to untangle himself (which involved a lot of silent cursing), he scrambled away to a safe distance.

"This is perfect! Now..."

He closed his eyes, and then started to crackle. Lightning surrounded him, then he whispered, "Flash Bolt!" At once, a blue lightning bolt zapped the others and they leapt up, yelping.

"Ow!" Sheba complained, rubbing her behind in pain. "What was that for!"

Ivan smirked. "Wake-up call."

Sheba growled. "Why, you! I oughta -"

"Shh!" Mia appeared at the top of the stairs, and was glaring at everyone. "Try and keep it down will you?"

All eyes were on the two Jupiter Adepts, who were looking daggers at each other (Not to mention maces, staffs, rapiers and fluffy Kirby wands... yeah). Eventually Ivan and Sheba noticed this and turned around reluctantly to face Mia, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Now, if you want to come up, do so QUIETLY," she warned. Everyone knew better than to anger her - again, and they slowly climbed up the steps to join her. However, they sweatdropped when they arrived. Pillows were being used as protective walls around Mia's, as she dubbed it, 'sentry'. Mia's 'sentry' consisted of a magazine: "_Vale's Fashions Today & Yesteryear_"; a cordless kettle (which she refilled herself); a mug; some coffee grounds, and a photo of a smiling Isaac (besides the one inside her pendant). She'd turned this facedown before the others arrived, but nonetheless they were still surprised.

"Er..." Garet began, but he was positively stunned stupid (not a difficult feat).

"Nice decorating," Felix commented.

"Thanks," Mia said, glowing. Everyone raised an eyebrow at Felix first.

"You... spoke," Sheba remarked. Felix frowned.

"So?"

Everyone shrugged, and then raised their eyebrows at Mia.

"What's the point of this?" Sheba asked, frowning as well.

"Safety," Mia said matter-of-factly. "A sleep-walking Isaac can be very unpredictable, as you know."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Sheba remained unconvinced.

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" she asked. "You haven't got any other... 'incentives'?"

Faces turned to Mia, who stared back blankly. Suddenly, her face grew scarlet and a look of utter terror.

"N-No!" she cried, then covered her mouth. "How can you think that, Sheba?" she asked in a whisper.

Sheba shrugged. "You can't say it hasn't crossed your mind."

"That's sick, Sheba," Jenna said in disgust.

"That is _not_ what I had in mind," Mia said through gritted teeth. "You've seen what happens when Isaac turns into one of his multi-personalities. It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Guess so," Sheba said with another shrug. Mia frowned.

"Did you have fun being on the receiving end of Isaac's fury?" she asked. This caused Sheba to growl and the others to turn white.

"You left us on purpose, didn't you?" she hissed. Mia gave a mischievous smile. "You sneaky little -"

"Speak for yourself," Mia replied. "You're no Golem."

"I can take you on any day!"

"Bring in on, short stuff!"

"Uh... guys?" Piers piped up. "What about Isaac?"

At that moment, Isaac burst out of his bedroom wearing a referee uniform and a whistle around his neck. Everyone but Sheba and Mia sweatdropped, while said females themselves continued to glare at each other.

"Fighters," Isaac announced, "to the Arena!"

Mia and Sheba glanced blankly at Isaac, and then proceeded down the stairs. Isaac followed, and then Garet and the others trailed behind him, still shocked and surprised. Only Felix and Ivan seemed excited at the prospect of, as they dubbed it, a "Siren Fight".**

* * *

**Once everyone was outside, Isaac took up his position once again.

"Fighters, approach!"

Mia and Sheba approached him, still glaring at the other out of the corner of their eye. Isaac cleared his throat, and the girls turned to face him. The others scuttled away to watch, hoping they wouldn't get blown away.

"Ready?" Isaac asked. Mia and Sheba glanced at each other briefly, and then they turned back to Isaac and nodded. He cleared his throat again and unleashed Granite, who created a protective barrier around him. "Fighters, prepare for battle!"

**

* * *

**

As Mia and Sheba stood a few metres away from each other clutching their weapons (Mia her Crystal Rod, Sheba her Mediation Rod), Felix and Ivan started making bets.

"200 coins, Sheba wins!" Felix declared, slamming his wallet onto the ground.

"400 coins that Mia wins!" Ivan countered, slapping down his coin bag. Jenna tutted irritably.

"This isn't a game!" Jenna whined.

"Oh, relax, Jenna," Garet said, adding his wallet to the kitty. "250 coins that Mia wins."

"Well, Piers?" Ivan asked, turning to him.

Piers glanced at Jenna, who had given up and returned to watching the battle. "Well..." he pondered, as Isaac declared the battle begun. "Oh, why not," he said finally, dropping his coin bag into the kitty. "Lessee... 350 coins that they knock each other out."

The other guys sweatdropped as Jenna spun around.

"In the meantime," she said, scooping up the kitty in her arms, "I'll look after them."

Felix and Garet growled but made no comment as everyone turned to watch the fight.

**

* * *

**

"I'll make you eat your words!" Sheba declared, launching an attack on Mia with her Mediation Rod. Mia smirked and blocked the attack with her own Crystal Rod.

"Hah! I have three years and battle experience ahead of you! Hail prism!"

Gigantic ice shards crashed upon Sheba, who stumbled backwards with shock. Her trademark smirk has returned, and Mia looked taken aback.

"Pathetic!" Sheba shouted. "I know most of your attacks, and they do nothing to me!"

Mia growled. "Darnit! That attack wasn't strong enough..."

Sheba smirked. "And now, the ultimate attack: Spark Plasma!"

"Uh oh..."

As the sky darkened and crackled, the spectators scuttled further away. Mia glanced up at the sky where clouds had started to form.

"This won't be good..." she said, and she closed her eyes.

"And now," Sheba declared, as lightning crackled around her like on a Super Saiyan 3.

**

* * *

**

**_Dramatic commercial break_** ("Boo!")

**

* * *

**

"And now," Sheba roared, as lightning from the sky flashed violently, "This will be the end! Prepare to meet the power of Thor! SPARK PLASMA!"

Suddenly, the lightning from the sky darted straight for Mia, who bellowed, "Freeze Prism!" Glaciers struck the lightning, and everyone (except Isaac) was caught in the devastating blast.

**

* * *

**

Isaac stared around at the scene of destruction. Sheba and Mia were lying on the ground unconscious, and everyone else seemed to be stuck in peculiar places: Ivan was hanging on a branch in a tree, Garet was hanging out of a chimney, Felix was hanging out of a window, Piers was blown back into his boat, and Jenna was in the bucket in the nearby well. As he stared around, Isaac sweatdropped and deactivated Granite's barrier, then he called on Quartz, who hurried to revive everyone.

"Agh! Help!" Ivan wailed, as he hung onto his branch.

"Mmmf! MUURRFFF!" Garet mumbled, as his legs flailed desperately.

"... What the?" Felix's legs kicked in the outside air, as he attempted to figure out where he was.

"... Urg... where am I?" Piers poked his head over the side of the boat. "Whoa! Someone get me down!"

"Guys?" Jenna called from her predicament. Isaac ran over to lift her out of the well as male voices yelled in desperation.

"Whhoooooaaaaaaa! Heeeellllllll - OOWWW!"

Ivan landed on his butt, Felix on his back, Piers on his butt, and Garet on his head. Only Garet wasn't affected by his fall, but no one was surprised. They shook their heads exasperatedly as Mia and Sheba finally woke up.

"Urg... what happened?" Mia rubbed her head as Sheba looked around.

"So, everyone got blasted by the attack?" she guessed.

Isaac shook his head. "Granite protected me. ("Figures," Sheba said) Ahem! I hereby declare the battle a no contest!" Sheba and Mia stared at him in disbelief, but he remained strong on his decision. "Decisions will not be amended! If you have a complaint, I will have no choice but to declare you the loser. Well?"

Sheba and Mia shook their heads quickly, and that's when Isaac snapped back into reality.

"Wha... wha... where am I?" He looked down at what he was wearing, and blushed bright red. "Agh!"

Mia and Sheba glanced at his clothing, and while Sheba smirked broadly, Mia turned away, blushing and giggling uncontrollably. It had turned out that Isaac was back in his Djinn PJ's - well, his shirt and shorts, anyway.

He smiled shyly and started backing away towards the house, his cheeks still burning. "Well, um..." he stammered, fumbling to find suitable words, "it's... a bit chilly, I'd... better... get back... to bed... yes... good night." He suddenly spun around and ran into the house, Mia and Sheba watching after him.

**

* * *

**

The others had crowded around the well and were discussing certain financial matters.

"All right," Piers said, rubbing his hands together, "gimme the cash."

"Well, I would," Jenna began, as Felix, Garet and Ivan eyed Piers with resentment, "but there's a slight problem."

"... What?" Piers asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, in the blast, all the coins were blown into the well," Jenna said slowly.

Piers remained unconvinced. "We can fish them out. Out of the way! I need my winnings!" He tried to dive into the well, but Garet and Felix held him back. "Lemme go!"

"We can't let you do that," Felix said, but Piers fumed when he, Ivan and Garet smirked. "You'll just have to let them go, buddy."

Piers huffed. "Fine!" He stomped away to the house, and Garet grinned.

"Oh well," he said brightly. "I'm not the only poor guy here, right?... right?" His face plummeted when Felix and Ivan whipped out their wallets.

"Sorry, Garet," Ivan said. "I guess you're the only one busted, eh?"

Felix was less forgiving. "Sucked in!"

Garet gaped wordlessly for a long time. "But... I... you... the money... well..." He groaned quietly, then turned around and trudged back to the house.

The remaining three watched him go, then hi-fived each other.

"All right, give us the dough," Felix said, emphasising with his hand. Jenna nodded and gave Ivan and Felix their share of the money. The three of them then walked back to the house, grinning widely.

**

* * *

**

Mia and Sheba watched everyone else walk back to the house, then turned to each other.

"Dispute settled?" Mia asked hopefully.

"Guess so," Sheba said, shrugging. But as they walked back to the house, Sheba added, "By the way, I saw the expression on your face when you were looking at Isaac. I don't have to be a mind reader to know that you'd love to see him in those PJ's again."

Mia made no comment, but she blushed scarlet and quickened her pace, while Sheba's smirk grew wider.


	10. Night Four

**Lord Cynic:** "All right! I've got a good movie!"

**Mini Ivan:** "What is it?"

**Lord Cynic:** "It's supposed to be a really good one..."

**Mini Garet:** "Yeah, so what movie is it?"

**Lord Cynic:** "I can't wait to watch it!"

**Mini Jenna:** "WHAT'S THE MOVIE?"

**Lord Cynic:** "Whoooaaaaaaaaa!" (_Smashes into the wall and the video pops out of his hand_)

**Mini Garet:** Reads it and sweatdrops. "You've got to be joking..."

**Mini Isaac:** "What?"

**Mini Garet:** "... It's a Pokemon movie."

_Everyone stares at Lord Cynic, but he's been knocked out so he doesn't reply._

**Mini Mia:** "Pokemon's cute! I like them."

**Mini Sheba:** "... Cute?"

**Mini Mia:** "Yeah! I love Charmander, he's so cute!"

**Mini Isaac:** (_eyes Mia suspiciously_)

**Mini Mia:** (_hastily_) "... not to say that you're not cute, I just... I just meant..."

**Mini Isaac:** "..." (_Walks off_)

**

* * *

**

**Mini Garet:** "Mini Cynic doesn't own Golden Sun. He owns the er..." (_Counts_) "... Six of us, but not Golden Sun. Golden Sun belongs to Camelot Soft."

**Cynic:** "In this fanfic, there may be a fair amount of POV changing. Try and figure it out, okay?"

**

* * *

**

_**Chapter 11 - Night Four, a.k.a. Sailor Isaac**_

Nothing much happened much the next day. Oh, except for a certain redhead suspiciously entering employment offices... then there was the tornado conjured up by Ivan and Sheba that messed up Isaac's hair (and he screamed louder than Jenna ever could) ... oh, and Jenna achieving a new volume in her voice (Oh, never mind, then)... oh, I also heard of someone being the first Adept on Jupiter... nah, nothing much happened.

**

* * *

**

Nighttime fell quickly, and once again, Mia prepared for another night of babysitting.

_This will be the night,_ she thought to herself. _One way or another, I will confess my feelings for Isaac._

She was about to make herself some coffee when the front door opened, and Isaac walked in, hair still completely ruined (At least, that's what he reckoned).

"Hello, Isaac."

Isaac hadn't noticed Mia, and hesitated slightly before answering. "Oh, er, hi."

Mia became concerned. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no," Isaac said quickly, and hastily stuffed a small box into his pocket while Mia was preoccupied with the kettle.

"Want some coffee before you go to bed?" she asked, even though she'd already poured two mugs. Isaac walked into the kitchen, and Mia presented him with a mug, smiling sweetly. (i.e., the face.) He took it hesitantly, and then turned away before she could catch sight of his flushing face. Unfortunately for him, she could see the heat emitting over his head. She smiled again, to herself, and together they sipped their coffee quietly (Although Isaac made the brutal mistake of trying to glug it down in one go, and nearly burnt his tongue off in the process).

**

* * *

**

As they set their mugs down in the sink, Felix, Jenna and Ivan walked in. They were looking particularly smug, and Isaac eyed them suspiciously, especially Felix, who was wearing a cap too small for his head.

"What're you lot looking so happy about?" he asked.

The tricky trio smirked at each other and revealed their secrets: Felix removed his cap (with great relief) and showed his new haircut (however, it only looked slightly better than his previous hairdo, and Isaac couldn't tell the difference anyway); Ivan took out a strange box from his jacket (which Isaac thought looked suspicious in the first place); and Jenna took off her necklace from around her neck. Isaac's eyes widened (after he'd finished becoming suspicious, of course).

"Okay, first of all, what the heck is that, Ivan?" he asked.

Ivan smirked. "It's a joke box. Read the title: 1001 ways to send people insane and to Venus."

Isaac slapped a hand to his forehead in a "Duh!" motion, and then made an intrigued face after his brain actually took in the title of the little black box. "Okay, then where'd you get the money for those?"

"We got some generous donations from our busking," Jenna said casually.

Isaac nodded, then muttered, "They must've paid you to stop," as Mia gloomily went back to the kettle.

_I can't confess to Isaac in public,_ she thought to herself as she turned the tap on to refill the kettle. _He might reject it, and I'd be humiliated in front of my friends. If... if only we could be alone for just two minutes, then -_

"Mia?"

"Huh?"

Mia snapped back into reality, and realised that she'd kept the tap going. She turned it off quickly, face burning with embarrassment.

"Something wrong?" Isaac asked, looking at her strangely. She shook her head and returned the kettle to the bench. She suddenly spun around, and Isaac sweatdropped when she flashed on her company smile.

"Anyone else want some coffee?" she asked. Everyone shook their heads, and Isaac started to walk upstairs. "Going to bed?"

"Yeah," Isaac said. "I haven't sleep well at all recently." He grew a face of confusion as the others exchanged dark looks, but the naive Venus Adept didn't noticed. "'Night."

Everyone murmured "'Night," and he departed up the stairs. However, before he disappeared from view, Mia noticed a mysterious ring on his right wrist.

"Um, guys?" she started. "Anyone notice anything on his wrist?"

"Yeah, the ring," Jenna said casually, and the boys shrugged in a "Whatever" way. Then, she added, "But don't worry, isn't the left hand the wedding hand?" She smirked malevolently, and Mia blushed again.

"I... I didn't say anything about that," she said breathlessly, her face burning red.

"Just making sure you know," Jenna said, smirking broadly now. The guys sniggered as Mia returned to the kettle, her face returning to normal colour but filling with fear instead.

_I definitely can't admit my feelings to Isaac now,_ she thought fretfully. _What will I do?_

* * *

"Your resume is unique, Mr... ?"

"Garet."

We finally found Garet - at the local pub... heh, heh... (_snorts laughter)_

"Hey!" Garet shouted, glaring at the camera. Eheh... sorry.

"Whom are you talking to?" the employment secretary asked, looking around in confusion. Garet cleared his throat.

"No one," he said quickly, turning back to face the secretary. "So, are my qualifications decent?"

"Yep," she said, and then radioed ahead. "Okay, Mr. Garth -"

"Garet."

"- the boss is ready to see you now."

Garet looked confused.

"Oh, nothing to worry about," the secretary assured him. "My boss just wants to see you face-to-face before you start the job."

"Oh," Garet said, taken aback.

"Good luck, Mr. Gareth," the secretary said, waving.

"Grr," Garet growled, but all the same, he waltzed into the room of the Boss himself... well, maybe not quite...

"Hello, Garet."

"What the?"

**

* * *

**

Back at Isaac's house, in Isaac's bedroom...

"Mortal fools," a sinister voice muttered in the darkness. "They wouldn't notice if the town Psynergy Stone went flying over Vault." He chuckled to himself as he held a black (-ish) jewel in his hands. "Now to use this Teleport Lapis to cause some havoc." The lapis began to glow, and a flash of light filled the room.

"What was that?" Mia asked alarmingly, noticing the flash from downstairs.

"... Looks like it came from Isaac's room," Felix said casually.

"You're not concerned?" Mia asked, almost shrilly.

"Well, why should we be?" Ivan asked. "In the past few days, Isaac's been looking for revenge for his father's death, been a bicycle-riding maniac... a maniac in general," he added, shuddering," and recently a referee for your fight with Sheba."

He and Felix closed their eyes and smiled slyly, until Jenna and Mia promptly bashed them up with rolling pins. Jenna folded her arms in disgust as Felix and Ivan lay on the ground with spiral faces.

"Honestly," she said, "all men are hopeless." She noticed that Mia had resumed looking upstairs. "Oh, for -" She stopped herself when Mia snapped back into reality again and was looking at her strangely. "Let's go then."

Jenna sighed heavily, and Mia (whose eyes suddenly lit up) bounced up the stairs.

**

* * *

**

"You look surprised to see me, Garet."

Garet's mouth gaped open stupidly like the laughing clown at the Mini Golf course.

"Who, what, where, why..."

Sheba shook her head in pity (Gasp!). 'Poor misguided afro-clad fool," she thought to herself, and then cleared her throat. "Come now, Garet. Aren't you glad _I'm_ the boss 'round here?"

Somewhere far away, a Siren wailed.

"Okay, Porcupine Boy," Sheba said, her voice losing its casualness, "we all know about your current financial crisis - everyone except your parents, that is."

Garet had opened his mouth to speak, but now all he could do was babble endlessly, dreading the reaction of his parents.

"Yes, your parents don't know you're flat broke," Sheba continued. "I'm sure they don't want to hear that their hero of a son was conned into losing all his money... although, that said, they probably wouldn't be surprised."

Like a Slowpoke on Valium, it took Garet 45 seconds to realise he'd been insulted. He opened his mouth yet again to shoot back with a remark, only to find Sheba gone. Confused, he left the office, where the secretary had been expecting him.

"Ms. Sheba told me to tell you that you start tomorrow," she said. "9am sharp."

"Um, okay," Garet said slowly. "Do I have to bring anything?"

"Oh, no," the secretary said, a devious glint in her eye that only Garet wouldn't notice. "You seem to already be equipped with your own mop."

Garet's brow furrowed, as he tried to interpret her words, but he simply nodded. However, as he walked out he finally understood what she said, and turned back around.

"My hair is not a - OWW!"

**

* * *

**

As Mia and Jenna arrived at Isaac's bedroom, another flash briefly illuminated it. They glanced apprehensively at each other as Mia reached for the doorknob. However, her hand just grabbed the handle when Isaac burst through the door yet again. The girls' eyes widened when they caught sight of what he was wearing: a tight-fitting sailor suit, complete with white elbow gloves, a netball skirt, white heeled boots and a large red bow on his chest (**A.N.: **_"I think that's the outfit..."). _The ring on his wrist glowed malevolently, and that was the first thing Mia noticed, after she gained the self-control to look away from Isaac's bewildering outfit. She pointed it out to Jenna as a tune played from Isaac's room:

_'Fighting evil by moonlight,_

_Winning love by daylight,_

_Never running from a real fight,_

_She is rhe one named... Sailor Moon!'_

The tune continued to play (_'She will never turn her back on a friend...'_) as Isaac performed the Sailor Moon transformation before delivering his (improvised) battle speech.

"Sailor Moon is back to kick some butt! So in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

The music ended (_'She is the one... Sailor Moon!'_) As she performed Sailor Moon battle pose. Mia and Jenna looked at each other with satellite dish eyes as Isaac continued to stand before them. He looked particularly more impatient that usual, so Mia approached him cautiously.

"Um... Isa - er, I mean, Sailor Moon?"

Isaac looked at her strangely, and in his mind, she transformed into Amy Anderson, a.k.a. Sailor Mercury (**A.N.: **_"Wow, what a coincidence"_).

"Sailor Mercury?" he uttered apprehensively, and then beamed. "Sailor Mercury, you're here! Just in time!"

"Huh?" Mia became confused, and then she remembered who Sailor Mercury was (Okay, let's just say that in their sparetime, Isaac and Mia spend many (silent) hours together watching Sailor Moon). "Yes, I'm here to help you fight the, er, Negacreeps!"

Jenna became worried, but when Mia nodded to her while Isaac was preoccupied adjusting his red bow, she understood and nodded too.

"Hey Sailor Mercury, you've let your hair grow out a long way," Isaac piped up, noticing that for the first time as Sailor Moon. Mia sweatdropped nervously, then turned to Isaac with a ; face.

"Oh yeah, um, I thought it was time for a change," she said quickly, hoping it was an effective alibi.

"Well, you look great with your hair like that," Isaac said, obviously impressed.

"T-Thanks," Mia said, going magenta. _That'll be just Sailor Moon talking,_ she thought to herself, _but maybe that's Isaac talking... oh, if only I could -_

"Look out, Sailor Mercury!" Isaac cried suddenly, pointing at a bewildered Jenna. Mia thought quickly and came up with an idea.

"Don't you remember Sailor Jupiter?" she asked Isaac, nodding at Jenna. Jenna got the point and straightened up.

"That's... that's right," she stammered. "I... I came here with Sailor Mercury to assist you."

Isaac nodded, but stared strangely at Jenna, making her, if possible, even more nervous.

"Sailor Jupiter, you seem to have become a lot shorter," he observed. Mia and Jenna both sweatdropped.

"Well, um," Mia started, "maybe you've gotten taller."

Isaac pondered this for a moment. "Yes, I have been eating a lot of icecream lately."

Mia and Jenna glanced at each other, still sweatdropping, and wondering how long this would last.

**

* * *

**

Sheba returned to the house to find Felix and Ivan still unconscious. Smirking to herself, she stood at their heads, and then commanded a small, "Whirlwind!" At once, the two winds blew at the top of their heads. Smirking even more broadly now, she commanded the whirlwinds to stop after a few seconds, and then used Plasma to wake the guys up. After the initial shock, Felix and Ivan sat up, then pointed and shouted to each other:

"Haha, your hair's messed up! No, yours it! Yours is! Mine is too? This can't be!"

Hearing of this 'disaster', both slapped their hands to their cheeks and screamed in terror. This was enough to cause Sheba to fall over, and attract the attention of the Sailor Scouts upstairs.

**

* * *

**

"Sounds like trouble," Sailor Moon said. She turned to the long, blue-haired Sailor Mercury, and the short Sailor Jupiter. "Let's go downstairs."

Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter nodded briefly, and the three of them darted downstairs. Then they got there, they found Felix and Ivan crying and Sheba shaking her head in exasperation.

"What happened to these two?" Jenna muttered to Sheba while Mia kept Isaac preoccupied.

"I only messed up their hair with a bit of wind," Sheba said, shrugging. "If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have bothered.

"Oh, for Tiamat's sake!" Jenna said angrily at Felix and Ivan, who suddenly jumped. "You're worse than Garet! Get up!"

The two sobbing masses looked at her fretfully, and then clambered up.

"But... our hair... is -" they stuttered, but Jenna interrupted them.

"Get a grip!" she hissed. "Just because your hair's not perfect doesn't mean you have to act like such -"

"Look out Sailor Jupiter!" Isaac said suddenly, pointed at Felix, Ivan and Sheba all at once. "It's the Negacreeps!"

The 'Negacreeps' looked at Jenna nervously, and were horrified to find that she was grinning evilly.

"Oh, that's right," she said, but then became confused. "Which ones?"

Everyone, including Sheba, Ivan and Felix (who all still had no idea what was going on), fell down in stupidity.

"Hnnh," Isaac groaned, slightly annoyed. He got up and pointed again at the culprits. "Jedite, Nephrite and Zoisite!"

This time, everyone except Isaac and Mia sweatdropped.

"I thought we destroyed them," Mia said, being the only other person to know what Sailor Moon even was (the show, that is).

He looked at her coldly, and she was taken aback.

"It seems they've somehow been reincarnated," he said obviously, and Mia wondered where this hostile attitude was coming from. Meanwhile, 'Jedite', 'Nephrite' and 'Zoisite' were looking at each other with increasing confusion, and Sailor Jupiter continued to smirk.

"Is it just me, or is everyone getting shorter," Sailor Moon muttered to herself, then wielded her Moon Sceptre (i.e., Mia's Crystal Rod). Sailor Mercury looked at it then glared at Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon noticed this and sweatdropped. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said, producing a Zodiac Wand, "this is your Star Wand, I seem to have had it for a while." She handed it to Mercury, and then called out to Sailor Jupiter. "Here!"

Jupiter turned around just in time to receive the second of the Star Wands. She looked at it with disgust, preferring her Phaeton's Blade, but she caught Mercury's warning glare and nodded in resignation.

Meanwhile, the Negacreeps were now eyeing the Sailor Scouts' weapons with apprehension. They jumped back in alarm when the Scouts approached them.

"Hey, hey," Jedite said, as the 'villains' backed away, "what do you plan to do with those?"

"We plan... to destroy you!" Sailor Moon declared, and even her fellow scouts became frightened when her eyes turned red. The ring, still on her wrist somehow, glowed malevolently again, and there seemed to be a dark light surrounding her. "Moon... Crystal... Power!" she bellowed, and the Crystal Rod began to glow.

Mercury glanced at Sailor Moon nervously (as did everyone else), and then said to Jupiter, "Just follow my lead. Mercury Star Power!" she then cried, holding up her Star Wand/Zodiac Wand, which started to glow as well.

Jupiter nodded cautiously, and then cried, "Jupiter Star Power!" and her wand also started to glow. Now, the Scouts' weapons at the ready, they approached the retreating denizens of the Negaverse again.

"Eat Sailor power, Negacreeps!" Sailor Moon shouted, and the sceptre and wands unleashed their powers. In less than two seconds, the Negacreeps faced the devastating blast of the Scouts' power, and were unconscious.

"That was fun," Jupiter said, grinning. Mercury nodded, but Sailor Moon started to act strangely. She dropped to the ground, releasing her Moon Sceptre, and the glow from the ring started to fade. Soon, the glow as no more, and she started to regain consciousness, but not as Sailor Moon...

"AAAAHHHHHHHH! What am I doing in a dress!"

**

* * *

**

Meanwhile, on Jupiter...

"I guess that's the last time I intentionally anger Jenna," Piers said, then looked around. "But how do I get off here!"

**

* * *

**

**Mini Ivan:** "You're in big trouble, Cynic..."

**Cynic:** (_sweatdrops)_ "Why?"

**Mini Ivan: **"Your readers won't appreciate how long it took for you to write this chapter."

**Cynic: **"Yeah, well, um, I have holiday homework."

**Mini Garet:** "Not good enough. You must answer to the call of the people generous enough to use their precious time reading your fanfics!"

**Cynic:** "Hey, I'm not taking orders from you lot."

**Mini's:** "Oh really?"

**Cynic:** "Y-Yeah."

_KRACOOM!_

**Cynic:** (_Goes spiral-eyed_)


	11. Night Five

_Mini Isaac and Mini Mia are sobbing in the corner._

**Lord Cynic: **(_Groans_) "What now?"

**Mini Garet:** "It's the last chapter for their larger selves to confess their love for each other."

**Lord Cynic: **"Hmm... maybe I shouldn't get their hopes up..."

**Mini Jenna:** "What would've been a good idea... but then Mercury Matchmaker would be messed up."

**Lord Cynic:** "Oh yeah... noodle crackers!"

**Minis:** (_sweatdrops)_

**

* * *

**

**Mini Sheba:** "Lord Cynic doesn't own Golden Sun. Oh, that goes for _Because of You _by **98 Degrees, **too. He owns a silver plate, though..."

**Lord Cynic:** "No I don't."

**Mini Sheba:** "Oh, well, whatever."

**Cynic:** (_glowers_)

**

* * *

**

Final Chapter 12: "Night Five" a.k.a. "Judgement Night" 

The next day, Isaac didn't come out of his bedroom much at all. After last night's humiliation, he couldn't build up the courage to leave the safety of his room.

"He's being a wuss," Ivan said, as everyone sat in the TV room (well, Ivan, Felix, Jenna and Mia, anyway; Piers was still on Jupiter, and Garet and Sheba were in the pub).

"Not true," Mia whined, and eyebrows were raised. "While you people left earlier this afternoon, Isaac snuck out of his room into the kitchen."

"I knew he couldn't go all day without food," Jenna muttered, as Felix channel surfed out of boredom.

"Oh, no," Mia corrected her. "He was calling a repairman to remove Piers' boat off the room of this house."

"Where is our sea-worthy friend, anyway?" Felix asked, having finally discarded the remote to a nearby chair. He sweatdropped when Jenna gave him a death glare.

"He's on a different type of journey," she said bluntly.

* * *

Piers paced endlessly across the surface of Jupiter, pondering a way to get off the unfortunate planet (oh... uh... _sorry_...). Suddenly, he got an idea. 

"Why didn't I think of this before... Taxi!"

Out of nowhere, a big yellow taxi (**A.N.:** _"ERR... sorry!"_) zoomed in front of him. A wild ape sat in the driver's seat, looking disgruntled.

"Hurry up and get in," it growled. "I have a poker game with Donkey and Diddy Kong to get to after my shift."

Piers sweatdropped, but uttered, "Vale," and got in the car. The primate taxi driver slammed the accelerator, and the taxi sped off the face of the planet.

**

* * *

**

"So, who's the repair guy?" Felix asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Some guy called Jason Powern," Mia said, trying to remember. "I was hiding in here when Isaac made the call, so that's all I heard."

"Fair enough," Ivan and Felix murmured, then Ivan asked, "So, after that, Isaac shut himself back in his room?"

"Well, no," Mia corrected again, but her cheeks had a noticeable pink tinge. "He made an enormous subway sandwich first, then shut himself in his room."

"Told ya!" Jenna declared suddenly, bowling everyone over and folding his arms in triumph. Mia, Felix and Ivan lay crumpled on the floor, wearing exasperated faces.

**

* * *

**

"You missed a spot."

Garet growled as he mopped the floor while Sheba barked orders at him. People drinking at the pub watched in amusement as the short blonde girl ordered the tall guy with taller red hair around like a butler.

_Why did I come of all places, _Garet thought bitterly.

"Because you're flat broke," Sheba said, quite literally reading his thoughts.

_Darn her mind reading abilities._

"I heard that," Sheba said, shooting a bolt at Garet's behind. Drinkers watching laughed rudely as Garet hopped on the spot, rubbing his burnt backside. "Oh, that's right. I read that, not heard it," Sheba said, smirking broadly.

**

* * *

**

"Oh Mia, I love you so, but I can never tell you how I feel."

Inside his shrine, Isaac kneeled in front of his enlarged picture of Mia, clutching his lock of his angel's long blue hair. Candles lit around the room flickered, and the blonde mop on Isaac's head was styled with 'borrowed' hair gel. (**A.N.: **_"Well, honestly, you didn't think he actually returned it, did you?"_) He was dressed in a tuxedo, and in respects looked like a blonde penguin.

"I just don't know how to express my love," Isaac said, but his eyes were getting droopy. "Don't know... tell... Mia... I love... her..."

Soon, he drifted to sleep. However, as he lay on the shrine floor, the ring on his wrist glowed malevolently.

**

* * *

**

"Nearing Vale," the ape driver grunted, as the Great Healer's shrine came into view.

"Nearly there," Piers said, sitting back in his seat as a familiar wind blew.

The taxi was passing over a tree when the wind became dangerous. It blew the taxi around wildly, and Piers groaned.

"Not again," he moaned, but the winds of Jupiter were not on his side. Instead, it tossed the vehicle around like a child with a toy. Soon, the taxi was blown backwards and wedged onto the roof of the Great Healer's shrine.

"What the -" The Great Healer walked out to find a distraught Lemurian, a swearing ape and a smoking taxi on his roof. "Oy! What're you doin' on me roof!"

"The wind caught us," Piers explained tiredly.

"Bugger," the Great Healer swore. Someone shouted, "Howzaaaaaaaaat!" inside, and the Great Healer swore again and stomped inside.

"Oh damn, the poker game!" the ape growled, and it teleported out of sight, leaving Piers stranded.

"Somebody get me off here!"

**

* * *

**

"Did I hear something?"

Mia looked around in a panic, making everyone raise eyebrows.

"Did... did I hear something?" she repeated.

"Okay," Ivan said slowly, "first of all, no you're not. Second, we're starting to think you're getting paranoid. Finally, we're also starting to think you're wanting an excuse to check up on Isaac."

Mia's face went from confusion to a frown then to a bright red.

"Seriously though," Jenna said, as Mia turned away to hide her flushing face, "we are starting to think you're becoming jumpy."

"What do you mean?" Mia asked with typical innocence.

"We all know you like Isaac," Felix said, making Mia go red again. "Well, everyone except him, of course."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Mia said breathlessly.

"Oh, hey there, Isaac!" Ivan said suddenly. "We were just talking about you."

"Eep!" Mia dived desperately behind her chair. Felix and Jenna sniggered quietly as Ivan continued.

"Y'know, Mia was just dying to tell you something. Right, Mia?"

She was just dying all right. She crouched further behind her chair, dreading the idea of admitting to Isaac this way.

_Not this way,_ she thought to herself. _Isaac would never believe me. He would never think that someone like me could love him._

_Ah,_ said a voice inside her head, _but you'll dread not telling him at all, won't you?_

_You're right,_ Mia thought. _I've got to face my fears._

To everyone's surprise, she stood up and spun around. Eyes closed, she spilled her guts.

"I love you, Isaac. Ever since we met in Imil, I've felt something about you that I've never felt about anyone else. Your leadership skills, your courage, your gentleness, all of those and even more make me feel this way. I don't care if you don't feel the same way, but I couldn't live without telling you this."

She started to run to him, but she tripped over her chair and fell onto her back on the floor.

_... Ooh, bad fall,_ the voice inside Mia's head called Fizz said, and she disappeared from sight.

When Mia opened her eyes, she didn't see Isaac. Instead, she saw Ivan, Jenna and Felix almost wetting themselves laughing. After she understood what was going on, she became angry. No, that's an understatement. She became enraged. Flames surrounded her body, and the other three jumped back in alarm.

"How dare you!" she shrieked. "How dare you play with my feelings for Isaac!"

"N... No need to be angry about it," Ivan stammered nervously. "We... were just having a little fun."

Felix and Jenna looked at him in horror as Mia's eyes bulged.

"A LITTLE FUN?" she screamed, and lightning crackled outside.

**

* * *

**

Piers looked up from his position on the Great Healer's shrine.

"Looks like a storm's a-brewin'," he said casually. "I just hope I don't become a victim..."

He regretted saying that when a lightning bolt shot at him, sending him flying.

"Wahahahahahahahahaaaaa!"

_**Ding**_

"BUGGER! The cable's out!" roared the Great Healer from inside.

**

* * *

**

"What do you mean, a little fun?"

Lightning struck again as Mia approached the now trembling trio. Her eyes, usually a calm blue, glowed a vicious bright green and her blue hair stood on end. Despite their fear, the trio saw an uncanny resemblance to Evil Isaac, but that made their fear intensify.

"We... we didn't mean it like that," Jenna said awkwardly. "It's just that -"

"It's just what?" Mia spat.

Jenna started to talk again, but Felix stepped forward.

"Are you angry at us, or angry at yourself?" he asked.

"Felix..." Jenna moaned.

"We don't make fun of you because of your crush on Isaac," he continued, ignoring Jenna. "In case you don't notice, you're petrified of admitting your feelings to him. Because of how he'll react."

"What are you getting at?" Mia asked, but her voice cracked and she started to turn back to normal.

"But you are, aren't you?" Felix pressed on. "You're afraid of what Isaac will do if he rejects you. If he doesn't return your feelings for him."

"But... but..." Mia spluttered, but she quickly regained her composure. "You three don't know what it's like to be in love! You don't understand!"

"Yes I do," Jenna said quietly, and everyone spun around to look at her.

**

* * *

**

"Psst! Granite, Flint, wake up!"

The Venus Djinn known as Granite woke up to find a blue beauty prodding him awake.

"Ohhh," he groaned sleepily. "Please tell me this isn't some wonderful dream... oww!" he yelped, as his blue beauty accidentally poked him too hard.

"If this was a dream, I'd still be asleep," Flint grunted, getting up. Tonic and Fizz stood before the two brown Djinni. They looked like they meant business.

"What can we do for you ladies?" Flint said, unusually pleasant. Fizz looked at him strangely.

"We have a favour to ask of you," she said. "Right, Tonic?... Tonic?" Fizz looked around, confused.

"Heh, Fizz looks like she's lost a child," Flint said, smirking. "Y'reckon, Granite?... Granite? Hey, Granite!" Now it was Flint's turn to be confused. "Hey, where'd they go?"

**

* * *

**

"When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's amoré..."

From inside Isaac's wardrobe, Granite sang to his Djinn love, Tonic. Tonic herself had love hearts for eyes as Granite sang to her with an unusual tenor voice.

"When the world seems to shine, like you've had too much wine, that's amoré..." Granite stopped mid-song, hesitant. "Um... I've forgotten the rest."

He rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly as Tonic giggled.

"I've got some Italian for you," she whispered gently, bringing Granite closer. "It's a nice-a place, ah shut up-a you face."

(**A.N.: **_"Sorry about that... I watched a car commercial too many times."_)

"Oh, so -" Granite started to apologise, but he became caught in Tonic's passionate kiss.

"Awwww, how sweet," voices taunted.

Granite and Tonic froze in mid-pash and looked up. The other 16 of Isaac and Mia's Djinni were gathered in the doorway of the wardrobe, and every one of them wore identical sinister smirks.

"Mmf..." Granite mumbled, then removed his lips from Tonic's. (_A.N.:__"... Bear with me and pretend they're humans."_ "Erm... hey, guys."

"Hi, girls," Tonic squeaked. Flint and Fizz stepped forward from the pack, same devious grins on their faces.

"We had a feeling you two would hit it off," Fizz said, making Granite and Tonic go whatever colour Djinni do when they're embarrassed. "However, we have business to take care of."

"Um... that's right," Tonic said sheepishly. Fizz cleared her throat, but Bane, Sap, Sleet and Hail continued to smirk at the increasingly embarrassed lovey-dovey Djinni.

"Now," Fizz began. "Granite's singing exhibition (Granite opened his mouth in horror) has given me a good idea for hooking our two human lovebirds up. Gather around, everyone..."

**

* * *

**

"Isaac, Garet and I have been close friends for a long time, way before the Golden Sun. Before the storm, where Isaac's dad and our (referring to Jenna and Felix) parents were lost, the guys and I used to have so much fun. That is, before the storm came..."

Jenna had started her story, and everyone present was crowded around her. Mia and Ivan had intrigued looks on their faces, but Felix wore a look of loathing, wondering whom it was Jenna was attracted to, and wondering if he could legally kill him, whoever he was. However, for now he kept his anger to himself.

"After the storm, where I thought I'd lost my darling brother," Jenna said, feigning sweetness, "I had to look to Isaac and Garet for comfort."

Ivan raised an eyebrow, and Felix clenched his fists.

"As the years passed by, I looked up to Isaac and Garet, having no other family to comfort me. During the years before the Golden Sun, I started to think of them as more than just friends."

Jenna took a deep breath before continuing. She sounded as if she has forever wanted to get this off her chest.

"I've always made fun of your crush on Isaac," Jenna said, looking at Mia. "Well, it hasn't been just for fun..."

Mia frowned, but otherwise there was no reaction from the other two.

"I once had feelings for Isaac," Jenna admitted. "His gentle smile, his calm nature, pretty much the reasons you listed, Mia."

Her over-protective brother had a throbbing vein in his temple, but no one took any notice.

"When Kraden and I were captured, I thought of Isaac and Garet all the time. Obviously, I thought of Isaac more. However, there was, and still is, something about Garet's clumsiness that makes him attractive. Plus, there's something about that hair, I dunno..."

Unknown to Jenna, she was starting to blush. Ivan smirked, Mia became surprised, and Felix's vein bulged.

"However, any thoughts of a future between Isaac and me vanished when we reunited in Contigo." She was looking at Mia again, a look of regret on her face. "I saw the way you and him were looking at each other. I knew right there that I was too late."

Despite himself, Felix's expression softened. Mia, on the other hand, started to glow crimson.

"I had to accept the fact and if Isaac wasn't attracted to me before, he never would be. It tore me apart, but fortunately for me, by then my attraction to Garet had grown."

Jenna blushed again, but Felix's vein throbbed again. Unknown to him, he was sub-consciously ripping the arms of his chair to pieces.

"I'm sorry if I've made you feel bad, Mia," Jenna confessed honestly. "It's just my way of accepting that he can never be mine."

"Well, I'll try to take it in good humour from now on," Mia said.

The two girls hugged, but it was short-lived when Ivan cried out, "Holy Eclipses, Felix! What did you do to the chair!"

**

* * *

**

"Closing time, Garet!"

"At last," Garet said, dropping his mop.

"C'mon, Broom Boy," Sheba said, leading the way. Garet growled, but followed her out of the pub. However, as soon as Sheba closed, the door, they saw Piers still flying overhead, yelling in pain like Mario with his butt on fire.

"We saw nothing," Sheba said quickly. Garet nodded, and they walked back to Isaac's house.

**

* * *

**

"What _did _you do to the chair!"

Mia, Jenna and Ivan stared at Felix incredulously, whose hands still clawed onto what was left of the arms of his chair.

"Um... I dunno," he mumbled absent-mindedly.

The other three fell down in stupidity.

"How do you expect to explain this?" Jenna screamed, sending Mia and Ivan smashing into a wall and Felix toppling over the back of his chair.

"Well," Felix said slowly, poking his head out, "I'll just say Isaac had another accident."

Mia, Jenna and Ivan fell down in stupidity again. However, before Jenna could scream again, Piers came flying through an open window. He collided with a table and rolled into the kitchen, rolling into a garbage bin. Sweatdropping, the other four rushed into the kitchen to help him out.

**

* * *

**

"Jupiter!"

Mia, Felix and Ivan stared at Piers in disbelief. Jenna simply sat as the kitchen table in silence. Her eyes were closed and her arms were folded in apathy (Classic Kai Hiwatari pose).

"How'd you end up there?" Ivan asked.

"Um..." Piers thought back to before he was dumped on Jupiter...

**

* * *

**

_"What do you mean, I'm 'kind of short'?"_

_Jenna towered over Piers, which looked funny as he was at least 8 inches taller (I think). She had a death glare to combat Mia with._

_"Did... did I say short?" Piers said nervously. "I meant... um... vertically challenged."_

_"That's still short!" Jenna screamed and she summoned a Rising Dragon under Piers (don't ask how)._

_"What the -" Piers looked under him in time to be caught in the dragon's mouth. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"_

**_Ding_**

**

* * *

**

_"Oof!"_

_Piers landed on the hard ground... of Jupiter._

_"I guess that's the last time I intentionally anger Jenna," he said, looking around. Suddenly, his mobile phone rang._

_"Tell anyone about this and Jupiter will be Isaac's house compared to where I'll send you!" Jenna voice hissed. Piers sweatdropped heavily._

_"But she's 5'3''," he said with a hint of spite in his voice. He looked around again. "But how do I get off here!"_

**

* * *

**

"Aha! So that's how!"

Everyone jumped when Ivan suddenly pointed at Piers. However, while he pointed at the bewildered Lemurian, he was looking straight at Jenna.

"... What?" Jenna asked impatiently, opening an eye.

"You put him there!" Ivan declared, making Mia and Felix sweatdrop.

"... So?"

Everyone else falls down in stupidity.

"What for?" Felix asked in astonishment. Jenna glared at Piers, who shrank in fear.

"No one, and I mean no one, calls me short and gets away with it," she said. Felix became surprised.

"But, a lot of people we know are short," he said, and counted off his hand. "Ivan -"

"Hey!"

"Truth hurts, deal with it," Felix said before continuing. "Sheba, that weird girl who found us in Champa, looking for Isaac..."

"Feizhi?" Mia corrected, frowning a little.

"Yeah, probably," Felix said, waving a hand dismissively. "Anyway, in case you haven't noticed, Jenna, you're only two inches taller than Ivan and She -"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jenna shrieked as Sheba and Garet entered the house. Garet started to backtrack, but Sheba grabbed him by the collar.

"Jenna's about to bite Felix's head off," she whispered to him. "Doesn't that seem a tiny bit appealing to you?"

"... Good point," Garet said, and stayed to watch Jenna approach her shaking brother.

"You're going to rue the day you called me short," she hissed, building a fireball in her hand. Unfortunately for her (and Garet), Mia's Djinni popped up out of nowhere.

"Hey girls," she said, as Fizz and Tonic sat on her shoulder. "What's up?"

"Hurry!" Fizz said. "Something's happened to Isaac!"

"What!" Mia bolted upstairs without another word.

"Huh? Mia!" Sheba called as Mia disappeared up the stairs. "C'mon guys," he said to the others, and ran up the stairs. Ivan and Piers followed quickly.

"Darn," Jenna and Garet said at the same time, and they started to follow the others. However, before Felix could breathe a sigh of relief, Jenna turned around and hissed, "I'll see to you later!" then ran upstairs.

"Why me?" Felix asked himself, and then went to join the others at Isaac's bedroom.

**

* * *

**

"Okay, what's happened?" Mia asked her Djinni when everyone was gathered outside Isaac's room.

_No time for chat,_ Fizz chirped. _Just hurry and see what's happened to Isaac._

Mia looked at the others nervously, but they simply shrugged. Taking in a deep breath, Mia opened the door, but before she could walk in the lights in Isaac's room flashed on. Everyone except Felix sweatdropped when they took in the sight before them: Isaac's shrine to Mia had not been turned back into his proper bedroom, so everyone could see the tribute to his blue-haired beauty.

Mia was already burning red, so when Isaac stepped out as a Slayer (thanks to his Venus Djinni), she would've melted into the floor in embarrassment. Isaac's ring was still controlling him, but no one seemed to notice this as Mia's Djinni transformed her into an Angel (so, really, she was Isaac's angel after all).

Mia wasn't the only one who was positively stunned. Garet and Jenna eyes were wider than dinner plates, Sheba's trademark smirk had disappeared off the face of the planet, and Felix, Piers and Ivan's mouths gaped open in shock. They all stared bewildered at Isaac, who still stood before them, dressed in leather armour, which included the sheath Mia bought him.

"What's going on?" Garet muttered to the others, but no one gave an answer they understood. He didn't have to wait long though, because music started to play from inside the room. A microphone mysteriously appeared in Isaac's hand, and he started to sing a song.

**

* * *

**

_**You're my sunshine after the rain**_

_**You're the cure against my fear and my pain**_

_**'Cause I'm losing my mind when you're not around**_

_**It's all (It's all) It's all because of you**_

_**  
**_

_Baby, I really know by now_

_Since we met that day_

_You showed me the way_

_I felt it then you gave me love I can't describe_

_How much I feel for you_

_I said, baby, I should have known by now_

_Should have been right there whenever you gave me love_

_And if only you were here_

_I'd tell you_

_Yes, I'd tell you (oh, yeah)_

_**You're my sunshine after the rain**_

_**You're the cure against my fear and my pain**_

_**'Cause I'm losing my mind when you're not around**_

_**It's all (It's all) It's all because of you**_

_**  
**_

_Honestly, could it be you and me_

_Like it was before neither less or more_

_'Cause when I close my eyes at night_

_I realize that no one else could ever take your place_

_I still can feel and it's so unreal_

_When you're touching me, kisses endlessly_

_It's just a place in the sun where our love's begun_

_I miss you, yes I miss you, baby, oh yeah_

_**You're my sunshine after the rain**_

_**You're the cure against my fear and my pain**_

_**'Cause I'm losing my mind when you're not around**_

_**It's all (It's all) It's all because of you**_

_**  
**_

_If I knew how to tell you what's on my mind_

_Make you understand_

_Then I'd always be there right by your side_

_**You're my sunshine after the rain**_

_**You're the cure against my fear and my pain**_

_**'Cause I'm losing my mind when you're not around**_

_**It's all (It's all) It's all because of you**_

* * *

As the song finished, a rose was conjured in Isaac's hand and he offered it to Mia. She took it with trembling hands, still not quite believing what was happening. 

"Mia, my love," Isaac said (still under the influence of the ring), taking her hand, "when we met on that fateful day in Imil, I felt something special about you. Your lovely blue hair, the smile you gave when you treated the sick old man, the caring nature in which you treated him, they set off fireworks in my heart. We didn't even know each other, but I knew you were the one I was destined to give my heart to."

Isaac took a deep breath before continuing.

"When you told us how Alex betrayed you and broke your heart, I swore to myself that I would never try to make you sad. It tore me apart every time you stayed awake at night, crying because Alex turned his back on you. However, my love for you strengthened through the knowledge that you are also passionate and unselfish, willing to put the needs of others before yours... even if it cost you your life."

For the first time, Isaac's voice cracked and his eyes avoided Mia's. Mia tried to tilt her head to meet Isaac's eyes, but they remained looking anywhere but at her.

"You remember our fight with the Fusion Dragon, don't you? I thought I'd lost you when you were knocked out by their Outer Space attack..."

Garet and Ivan remembered this all too well. When Mia collapsed, Isaac turned into a psycho. Even without Feizhi's ring, he became a maniac, thrusting his sword at the Fusion Dragon with no regard for the consequences. Soon, the Fusion Dragon was no more, but Isaac was only concerned for Mia. He repeatedly used Revive to try and bring Mia back to life, but she remained unconscious. However, just as Isaac started to shed silent tears, Mia finally opened her eyes. She never saw the tears, but it was then that Garet and Ivan realised Isaac's greatest strength, all in one.

"But now," Isaac continued, finally looking back at Mia, "you stand here before me, the love of my life, and just as I promised on the Lemurian boat, I promise to make you happier than you've ever been. I love you, Mia, and nothing, nothing in this would will tear the love I have for you... even if you don't feel the same way."

Mia let these words take full effect on her, and she fell into Isaac's arms, weeping in joy.

"Oh, Isaac," she sobbed, "I never knew you felt the same way I do about you. When you asked me to join you, I felt some kind of overwhelming happiness, more than I'd ever felt with Alex. I cried at night not only because of what I'd lost with Alex, but also because of what I'd gained while travelling with you, Garet and Ivan. I gained battle experience, Psynergy skills and travelling knowledge, but there was something else more important. I gained friends, companions I could rely on, and who were more caring than Alex ever was. However, it was you, Isaac, who always drove me to keep going. Even through the hard times, you showed me the way."

Mia finally lifted her head, and two pairs of sky blue eyes met.

"You've already made me happier tonight than I've ever been," she said softly, "and I feel there's only one way to repay you for everything you've done for me..."

Before anyone knew what was happening, Mia held Isaac closer to her, and they engaged in a long, heartfelt and passionate kiss. The guys hooted and the girls high-fived each other as the ring's effect on Isaac started to wane, and Isaac's eyes fluttered as he and Mia released.

"I love you, Isaac," she said warmly, looking into Isaac's eyes again. Isaac was flabbergasted, but his surprise quickly turned into swelling compassion.

"I love you too," he said, and they shared another kiss. No one else was around (they were all looking for places to puke), but the two lovebirds didn't care less even if they were.

**

* * *

**

"How the heck..."

Jason Powern stared at the wedged Lemurian boat in disbelief. His glasses hung precariously on his nose while he surveyed the beached sea vessel, frowning slightly.

"Not much is he?" Jenna muttered to Mia.

"I dunno," Mia asked, side glancing at Isaac. He caught her eye and grinned.

"He got the taxi off the Great Healer's roof, didn't he?"

"You're right," Mia said smiling, but her brows furrowed for a moment. "I wonder how it got there in the first place."

"So do I," Isaac said, brows furrowing in suspicion. Everyone else present (Dora, Garet, Jenna, Felix, Sheba, Ivan and Piers) scratched their heads in confusion - except for Piers, who tried to look as confused as the others.

"Well, Jason said finally, "this shouldn't take very long. Sit back and watch a master at work." However, he immediately tripped over Sheba's 'coincidentally' placed foot and fell into the well. "Waaaaaaaaaaaa..." Splash.

"Er... whoops," Sheba said sarcastically, smirking. Everyone groaned in exasperation.

**

* * *

**

Two hours later, Jason was rescued, dry, and has removed the boat from the roof of Dora and Isaac's house. He didn't stick around for long afterwards, fearing that he might fall into the well again. When he left, all eyes were on Sheba, who said, "Well, he wasn't very careful was he?" Everyone fell down in stupidity.

"Guess you'll be sailing off again, Piers?" Garet asked him as everyone recovered. Piers nodded.

"Now that my boat's free, I guess so."

Everyone nodded and Piers climbed aboard his vessel. As the wings flapped, everyone waved to him. Smiling, he waved back, and soon the boat was airborne. A few seconds later, it, and Piers were gone.

"Everything's back to normal," Isaac said, putting an arm around Mia's waist. Mia smiled up at him.

"It's better though, isn't it?"

"Of course."

Isaac and Mia looked into each other's eyes then kissed each other amorously. Everyone immediately ducked to puke again, except for Dora who smiled serenely.

"I'd better get a bigger bed for your room, Isaac," she said. "I want grandchildren as soon as possible."

Everyone ducking fell over, and Isaac and Mia froze in mid-kiss.

**

* * *

**

Meanwhile, aboard Piers' boat...

"Nice to be sailing around again," he said to himself. "Nothing but peace, quiet and solitude..."

Little did he know, someone was hiding in his cabin. The person looked exactly like the travelling Lemurian.

"That's what you think," the person said, smiling malevolently. However, as the boat clumsily collided into some mountains, the person stumbled and fell backwards into the (unflushed) toilet.

"AAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

_**The End**_

**

* * *

**

**Lord Cynic:** "At last! Baka!"

**Mini Jenna:** "... Baka?"

**Lord Cynic:** "It's my fave Japanese word. Baka Bakura!"

**Others:** "... HUH?"

**Lord Cynic:** "Er... nothing..."


End file.
